An Eon's Gift
by ThatGalladeAcrossTheStreet
Summary: After his loss in the Unova league, Ash decides to stay at home for a few years, rather than head to another region. When he emerges from Pallet, he's a different man, powerful, skilled, and courageous (plus Aura). As he thinks about where to go, he remembers one of his greatest adventures; Altomare. Altoshipping, Dewshipping. Currently on hold due to RL problems and no motivation.
1. Chapter 1

**ThatGallade: Hello everyone, this is ThatGalladeAcrossTheStreet coming in from the Naga IV! This is my first fic, and I hope to eventually break 100k words without throwing my computer out the window!**

**Ash:**** For now though, he'd be happy with just five thousand… (Sniggers)**

**ThatGallade:**** Oh yeah, you laugh now, just wait to see what I've got in store for you, asshole. Oh, guess what, I'm calling you Ashhole now! Whew… alright, do the disclaimer, ASHHOLE!**

**Ash:**** Why you son of a- fine, whatever. ThatGalladeAcrossTheStreet does not own Pokémon or anyone in it. If he did, the amount of people watching would be same number of people that have favorited this piece of crap, which is currently zero. Unfortunately, he does technically own the plot, not like that counts for much.**

**ThatGallade:**** Screw you. (Picks up a book and throws it at him) Also, special thanks to Mekon and ARCEUS-Master, for providing us all two excellent stories; said stories are also where most of the inspiration for this came from.**

"So, what now?"-normal speech

"_I'm heading out."- telepathy_

_I love Pokémon.-thoughts and/or emphasis_

_**Chapter Two: Arrival**_

(3rd Person POV)

It was dawn, arguably the most beautiful time of day in the Pokémon universe. All across the world, people were waking up to see the sunrise, start their day, and go to work, school, etc. However, in the massive ocean between Johto and Hoenn, there was a man that was getting up for a different reason, not the sunrise, nor to go to work, but to return to a place he left long ago.

Ash was looking out over the vast sea of blue with Pikachu on his shoulder, and although he was enjoying the brilliant orange sunrise, he was searching for something, no, some_where_, he left behind him on his journey years ago, and the site of some of his best memories, as well as a few of his worst. Ash had stopped going through different regions and collecting badges after his attempt in Unova; instead, he headed back home for many years. Ash had matured greatly over the six years he'd been gone, both physically and mentally. He had helped many people back in Kanto, which he had returned to for three years, before leaving for another three years to train in aura. He had helped people around town with their problems, as well as frequently helping wild Pokémon when they got hungry in the winter, or when one got too powerful and started bullying the others. He still had the scars from when the Fearow he met early on recognized him, and attacked, slashing long gashes down his chest and face. Because of this, he frequently wears a hooded jacket with a half mask underneath. The Naïve ten-year-old he once was would've been terrified by the changes in him. He was mature, powerful, and most of all, able to hurt those who wished to abuse Pokémon without any regrets.

However, despite the changes to his life and naivety, his style of clothing remained mostly the same, but there were a few tweaks here and there when he got update to date technologically. The changes included a near-limitless backpack and a device on your arm that held your Pokémon inside small crystals, roughly the size of a baseball in diameter. His personality had hardened, but he was still kind, caring, and friendly. He had also gone through a Mental Activation (A specific procedure that allows the patient's mind to be able to interpret the Pokémon language) four years after his return to Pallet, and that greatly assisted with his work in the town…

(Ash's POV)

As the ship, the S.S. Seagale, moves forward, a small smile tugs at Ash's lips as he notices a landmass ahead. As they get closer to Altomare, he casts out his aura to scan the crowds for a certain dragon. He finds her, sitting on the beach, staring out wistfully into the ocean. The ocean, he notices, is the same one where that the tsunami came from that killed- 'no', he thought, forcefully shoving the thought from his mind. 'I won't get back into _that_ day again.' He could still remember the events of Altomare. His smile, which had disappeared by now, slowly begins to form again as he thinks about Latias.

His thoughts are cut short when he notices Brock come up behind him from the lower deck. Smile fading, Ash turns around to see what it is his friend needs.

"Hey Ash, we'll be docking in Altomare in fifteen minutes, so you'd better get packed up so you can go to the garden, as I know what you're thinking." Brock was right, as soon as he said _garden_, Ash's thoughts returned to Latias, Bianca, and Lorenzo, three of his closest friends, aside from his companions. However, Brock's words brought him back to reality, and he nodded in assent, before going below deck to pack up. "You know, you can be a real lunkhead sometimes, even though you've matured." Pikachu says to Ash while he heads down. "If anyone mentions Latias or any of the others, you lose your train of thought. You need to stop that." he continues. Ash just pushes him off his shoulder and starts to pack.

**(I really don't need to go through this, do I?)**

Fourteen minutes later, Ash is standing on the top deck of the Seagale, waiting for the call to depart to be made. When the call finally comes, Ash steps up to the safety fence, looks down, and jumps off toward the dock. He flips twice in the air with Pikachu right next to him while people scream around him, afraid this man is suicidal, and his taking his pokémon with him. Imagine everyone's surprise when they both twist though the air, with Ash landing powerfully on one knee and Pikachu landing gracefully on his shoulder.

"You're still a show off Ash!" is what he hears a second after he hits the ground, when the wind stops whistling in his ears. He turns around to see Misty running up to him, mallet over her shoulder. "Hey, I try, I try, Misty." he says back, with his trademark grin. "I miss this place so much, but I miss Latios. It's nice to finally be back here though…" He thinks aloud.

"It's alright Ash." Brock says. "We all miss him. At least we can see Bianca and Lorenzo again. Besides; there are SOOO MANY BEAUTIFUL LADIES!" He yells, before running toward the nearest girl, only to be stopped by an Aura Barrier. "Brock, I'll cut you a deal." Ash says. "You wait an hour and a half to allow us to get situated, and THEN you can go and flirt. Make sure to tell Toxicroak you have my clearance for seven girls." He continues, before getting out a piece of paper and writing something down. "Here, show that to Toxicroak before you start." He says, noting Brock's creepy look of glee. "Stay away from both Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy, try someone else for once. That's on the paper as well." Ash finishes, before walking off.

"So anyways Ash, what do you think about visiting the garden?" Misty asks as she catches up to him "and why did you let him flirt? He's hopeless!" "I thought I'd give him a chance, his constant flirting is getting annoying but anyway, let's go!" he says, before using his aura to enhance his legs, and then running off at 40 kph.

As they head off, a certain red dragon begins to follow them. As she tries to search for them, she notices they walk into a back alleyway that leads into the garden. Ecstatic that she followed them without their knowledge, she creeps up on them invisible as they sit down at a bench, and wait patiently. She fails to notice the slight sheen of their bodies until it's too late. A massive weight falls down on her shoulders, and, fearing that Team Rocket is attacking again, she quickly throws up a psychic barrier to repel the offender, only to be surprised when the figure counters it with an Aura Shield. She charges up a Mist Ball, (Latias's signature move) when the figure uses an Aura Dampener, an ability available only to veteran Aura Guardians, negating her attack. She is about to turn and fly off when suddenly, she gets glomped from behind. Fearfully, she turns her head to face her attacker. However, she is shocked by who she sees.

"Hahaha, I got you good Tia!" says Ash, his younger self poking through the cracks in the wall of age and wisdom. (Wow, metaphors? I am such a loser)

"_WHAT?"_she cries. _"How could you do that, and why in Arceus are you wearing a hood and mask?"_

"Oh my Arceus, you should've seen your face! How about we go to Bianca's place and I'll explain everything, let's just say I've had an eventful five years… Also, you don't really need to worry about telepathy once we get to Bianca's, I can understand you just fine. Besides, I like hearing your beautiful voice." He says, flirting not-so-subtly before bursting out laughing at her face, which had gone as red as her feathers from his little comment.

(3rd Person POV/Omniscient (There will be thoughts and emotions from most of the people in the room, as I'd rather not switch POV's every two sentences. Remember, I'm fairly new to writing.))

Ash, after finally calming down from laughing his ass off, heads off to Bianca's house next to the garden, with Latias following him, invisible. They chat mentally along the way, and he catches up with the events that occurred after he left Altomare. Apparently, no major threats to the city had shown up, and it was mostly just watching over the Soul Dew and keeping the garden safe. After a couple minutes, the two reach Bianca's house. Ash is somewhat surprised to see his friends already there with Bianca, but decided that they had gone straight to Lorenzo's, rather than head to the garden like he had.

"Come on Ash, why do you always take so long? Did you get lost AGAIN?" Misty yells. "Knowing you, that wouldn't be much of a surprise now would it…" She muttered under her breath.

"Hey!" He retorts smartly. "I'll have you know that I took so long because I was pranking Latias, and what I did takes a bit of time to perform! You know Aura Clones are draining on someone's energy reserves, even me!"

Bianca watched to two go at it, and was wondering whether to intervene when Brock did so instead, pulling the two apart before things got physical. At the same time, Lorenzo walked in the room and saw the two seething at each other. Bianca heads over to talk with her grandfather and explain what is going on before he started jumping to conclusions.

Misty grumbles something about Ash actually having a valid point for once while he explains what happened over the past few years, including his training and staying at Pallet Town, and to Latias specifically, why he could understand her. Latias's face, which had started out relatively calm, with hints of fear and anger, began to show mortification as she heard about some of his hardships. Bianca had a similar look on her face, and Lorenzo looked somewhat disturbed. It wasn't until he explained some of what he had gained, both in body, and in spirit, that they began relaxing. Latias began to smile. 'He really is different than he used to be.' She thought. 'Maybe now that he's matured, he'll notice me more for being a woman, and not just a friend. Maybe we can be more…'

(Ash's POV (I intend to stick with this one for a bit.))

As her thoughts wander, Ash notices that the Soul Dew is glowing. As he looks further, he feels an overwhelming compulsion to go and pick it up. As he walks over, he checks to see if Latias saw. However, she was still lost in her own fantasy, and failed to notice that he was gone. Ash felt another bout of desire to pick up the Soul Dew, and goes back to walking closer to it. The Dew begins to glow brighter and brighter with each step, and it eventually comes to the point where he has to use Aura to enhance his eyesight just to see somewhat clearly.

When he gets close, the urge to pick up the Dew is so powerful that it is as if his hands are not in control of themselves anymore. He picks up the gem, when suddenly; everything around him disappears, only for a new landscape, a field of absolutely nothing, to take it over. Ash turns around, curious as to what just happened, only to be shocked and scared out of his mind when he sees the bright, slightly transparent red eyes that could only belong to Latios.

**ThatGallade:**** Sooooo, what do you all think? For anyone that may or may not ask, I got the idea for holding pokémon in crystals from Primordial Soul's The Altomare Ace. Heck, about 86% of my ideas come from other stories. (Muffled curses can be heard) I locked up Ash so he won't bother me while I'm writing this. Remember, flames are NOT appreciated and will be ignored. (Maybe) However, constructive criticism that does not involve insulting me, my work, or anything about my work is welcome, as long as it isn't a flame. (Muffled screaming) Dammit, I'd better go get Ash out of that closet before he remembers his Aura and breaks the door down. Before I go, I'll post some great stories I've read and you all should read too if you haven't already. (Most will be Altoshipping, and underlined stories are stories I got ideas from. I'm pretty dependent on other stories to get things started. I have no life.)**

**A New Chance at Life and A New Chance for Adventure – ARCEUS-master**

**The Altomare Ace – Primordial Soul**

**The Blade and the Embrace – galladefenrir4**

**The Black Latios – Mekon**

**Guardian of Altomare – BladeofthePoet**

**Time-Crossed Heroes (sequel to GoA) – BladeofthePoet**

**Light's Adventures – EeveeinHeat**

**Soul Guardians – latiasfan1**

**Thank you for considering my opinion (I hope). I would actually post others, but I don't know the author names off the top of my head. As you can see, I draw inspiration from a lot of things. Unfortunately, it's hard for me to start off a piece of writing without first reading through five or six stories. Also for anyone that asks, I WILL be including some of Ash's companions, but I think only May and/or Dawn will have travel with him in the long term. Still wondering if I'm going to add Bianca (Altomare, not Unova) to this for any major length of time, or if she'll just be someone who shows up every now and then. Note that Bianca and Lorenzo are still under the same roof, so though I may refer to the house as Bianca's or Lorenzo's, they stay at the same place. I was tempted to give Bianca her own place, but decided that in the timeframe of this story, she wouldn't have earned **_**quite**_** enough money selling paintings to potentially buy a house yet. Some may ask why Bianca and Lorenzo are two of his closest non-companion friends, but y'know, the DMA, a tsunami, and a bunch of other scary shit'll do that to you…**

**ThatGalladeAcrossTheStreet, signing off!**


	2. Chapter 2

**ThatGallade: Hey all, good to see you again! I know that the first chapter could have been better, but honestly, I could care less about that right now, mostly because the reviews I have been getting so far have all been positive, so thanks guys (and girls, I'm not sexist)! So Ashhole, do the disclaimer, if you please.**

**Ash: ThatGalladeAcrossTheStreet does not need to do the disclaimer anymore, thanks for the heads-up Storylover Vodhr- Dux Ducis, it's appreciated by me, but not ThatGal!**

**ThatGallade: Yeah yeah Ashhole, we know you're a prick, m'kay? So just stop being rude and annoying and do it right next chapter or I'll kill you off in the third chapter, got it? Also, again, special thanks to ARCEUS-master and Mekon for providing two excellent stories, especially now that we know Mekon's not dead! Review responses will be in the bottom AN Also, I'm going to try and write this in the past tense, so tell me how I do, okay? I find it easier to write in past tense, but sometimes it's harder as well.**

**Last Chapter:**

_When he gets close, the urge to pick up the Dew is so powerful that it is as if his hands are not in control of themselves anymore. He picks up the gem, when suddenly; everything around him disappears, only for a new landscape, a field of absolutely nothing, to take it over. Ash turns around, curious as to what just happened, only to be shocked and scared out of his mind when he sees the bright, slightly transparent red eyes that could only belong to Latios._

"So, what now?"-normal speech

"_I'm heading out."- telepathy_

_I love Pokémon.-thoughts and/or emphasis_

_**Chapter Two: Resurrection**_

(3rd Person POV/Omniscient)

"Latios?" Ash gasped.__He was shocked and ecstatic. Ash quickly went over and embraced the blue dragon, words unable to express his happiness at seeing a friend he presumed dead. And yet, Ash was curious about the situation. This made no sense, Latios's soul was supposed to be inside the Soul Dew, which meant that Ash shouldn't have been able to see it unless…

"Sonuvabitch!" He grumbled, backing away a few steps. "You could at least have given me some warning first before you drag me into this thing, man. I like my soul where it is, thank you very much…"

"My apologies Ash." Latios tried to appease the trainer. "Do not worry, your soul will remain undamaged. The soul dew will not absorb it if there is one already inside, which brings me to my next point. But first, would you mind explaining to me how you knew what I did? Last time you were here you didn't seem to be nearly as knowledgeable on the subject of souls." Latios finished, with a questioning look in his crimson eyes.

Ash, having expected the question the instant he started complaining, gave a shortened explanation of the events that had occurred after Latios's death, with a promise for a more detailed one later. He shuddered at the thought of the dragon's passing. By the time he finished his abridged explanation, Latios's eyes were practically popping out of his head.

"So… you're meaning to tell me that you have met EVERY legendary Pokémon with the exception of Raikou, and saved the life of Lord Arceus itself*?" He asked, trying to contemplate just what the young man in front of him had done while he'd been in the soul dew.

"Yeah, pretty much." Was the teen's simple reply. "Honestly, it's nothing that special. I'm sure any decent person would have done it. I mean, some of these situations could have easily escalated into worldwide threats. I just thought that, y'know, I may as well try and do _something._" I couldn't just let the Creator die, now could I, that'd be horrible. That, and after you and Lucario, well… I couldn't bear to see something like that happen again." He finished, a pained look in his eyes. Latios could see that despite all the things he'd done, that Ash was still only a teenager, and as such was emotionally unprepared for what had happened, at least when he'd done such great things. Now, the dragon wasn't so sure.

"Sooo…" Ash continued. "Um, what exactly am I doing here?" he asked mareepishly. "I mean, all I know is that the Soul Dew was… calling, for lack of a better word. I presume that was your doing?"

"You're correct Ash. You see, while I am in the Soul Dew, I can feel the presence of everything in the city, and, if someone lets their guard down, even look into their surface thoughts." The dragon explained. "I've been noticing a few thoughts here and there inside the garden. Some of these were my sister's, while others belonged to Bianca and Lorenzo." He continued. "I've noticed that, while they are much happier with you around, they still frequently feel the pain of loss that came with my death. I cannot help but feel very guilty for this. As such, and I know this sounds very Farfetch'd (you see what I did there?), I would like to ask you to free my soul. If you free my soul, I can escape the confines of the Soul Dew, and return to the physical world." he said. Now, Latios could only hope that Ash would agree. He knew that with the Aura abilities he gained during his training in Cameron Palace and at the Tree of Beginning, Ash would be strong enough to break his bonds, however, he worried about what it might do to the teen. _Still, his Aura is quite strong… _the dragon mused. _Perhaps it might even be on the same level as me or my sister. If so… _

"I'll do it!" Ash said excitedly. He'd always felt terrible about Latios's passing, and now he had a ready-made chance to bring the Eon back to the world of the living! _Could this possibly get _any _better? _He wondered in, well, wonder. "I know I can do it!"

_His old energy is coming back. _Latios chuckled mentally. _"Alright Ash, then let us begin." _The dragon telepathed. _"To start, we must join hands. This will provide a stable conduit for your Aura and soul to reenergize mine beyond the normal levels for me, even when I wasn't trapped here. Once that is complete, then I will use my abilities to stabilize the Soul Dew, so that another DMA incident does not happen again. When the Soul Dew is able to function stably without me inside it, I will return as much energy as I can without endangering either of us. Too little in either of us, and you already know what happens. Too much, and we will explode." _The dragon finished his explanation, looking to Ash for approval.

"Alright then, I say we get on with it!" The teen said excitedly. He didn't care if he died, or nearly died, it would all be worth it to bring Latios back. He had to do it, for Latias!

"_Then start… now!" _The Eon telepathed, taking Ash's hands in his own. Immediately, he felt revitalized, as he felt the teen's strength merge with his own. Latios reveled in it for a moment, before returning to the task at hand. Now that he was stronger, he could see the bonds that held him in the jewel, three great chains of Aura that pulsed with power. However, the more Ash's energy fed into his own, the more the Eon's power grew over the chains. After about thirty seconds of transfer, the dragon found the strength to break his bonds, and the chains shatter instantly. Immediately, Latios cut the connection; Ash was incredibly pale, and looked as if he could collapse in a moment. The Eon raced over to Ash, keeping him upright. Latios knew that his body's ambient energy, combined with Ash's soul and Aura would help keep the teen alive until Latios stabilized the Soul Dew. The dragon looked around; already the inside of the jewel was collapsing in on itself. There was no time to waste. The Eon picked up Ash and flew off to the jewel's "core" at breakneck speed (A.N. Think of the core from the Tree of Beginning. The Dew is alive and sentient, but needs some form of soul and/or Aura energy to stay that way.).

Upon reaching the core, Latios was worried. It was a larger version of the Soul Dew, and could definitely be saved, but there was more damage than he thought; it was like a cracked egg, a patchwork of energy barely holding itself together, and was tinted a violent red; a sign that it was dying. He set Ash on his back and floated over to it. Immediately, the Dew's core pulsed with energy, investigating the intruder. However, upon reading the dragon's soul signature, it calmed, and let him pass. There was another soul, very weak, but it paid it no mind. Latios flew up to the approximate center of the core, and began to feed his Aura into it. The gem brightened subtly, and some of the nastier cracks began to repair themselves. As more energy was fed to the Dew, the brighter it got, eventually making it difficult to see for anyone who wasn't a legendary Pokémon. Finally, the Dew was mostly repaired, and Latios began to pour some of his soul inside as well; as a legendary, it would regenerate as long as he had enough left. Finally, the dragon broke the connection. The Soul Dew was almost completely repaired, and glowed with life. It was slowly repairing itself, and would no longer need to rely on Latios for energy.

Remembering Ash's condition, the Eon removed the teen from his back; he was even paler now, and was shivering in a cold sweat. Latios had to go about this carefully. He started with his Aura, letting his life energy flow through into Ash; the teen's skin regained some of its color, and he stopped shivering. Once the Eon restored his Aura (and _maybe _giving Ash some of his own as well, where's the harm in that?), he moved to the next, and most dangerous part; his soul. If this part went wrong, they would both die from either lack of soul or too much, overloading the body. Still, there was no time, so the dragon then steadily began to pour the teen's soul back into him, stopping before he ran out altogether. He need some of Ash's soul to be able to live, as his own would not be strong enough without outside help. The dragon switched sources, and let some of _his _soul into Ash as well. The Eon was a bit worried as to what the side-effects could be, but he didn't care. For right now, he was mostly concerned with keeping the teen alive. After a few seconds, the dragon cut the connection, and laid down next to Ash to rest.

Ash woke up a few hours later, feeling contradictory. He felt like his body was being ripped apart and like he could try to take over the world and win. His mind was reeling, and yet it was also working faster than ever before. (A.N. Didn't make him smarter though. Ash may be more intelligent, but you gotta have some comic relief from SOMEwhere…) He looked around, trying to figure out his location, before remembering what had happened a few hours before; saving Latios, nearly passing out, going to the core, watching Latios revitalize it, _actually _passing out, and nothing afterwards. Ash looked to his right, and saw Latios sleeping peacefully, likely recovering his energy. He sat up and crawled over to the Eon, a brilliant, if unoriginal, prank in his mind. He formed his Aura into a basic Darkrai mask, giving it the colors of Darkrai to be more realistic. He was a bit surprised at how easy it was; normally the drain was significantly larger. Ash decided to think on it later, before putting the mask on and hovering over Latios's face. He waited a moment, before smacking the dragon's head.

Immediately, Latios awoke, and the first thing he saw was Darkrai's face. Being a part Psychic, Latios did the natural thing, and screamed before flying back and crashing, covering his head with his hands. He panicked for a moment before hearing familiar laughter. _Son of a… _the Eon thought, looking closer at the "Darkrai", mentally raging when he saw it was only Ash. Still, he had to admit, it was pretty good, and the teen's laughter was quite infectious, so it wasn't long before the dragon joined in too, laughing heartily. He floated over, smacking Ash on the back of the head, dispelling the mask.

"So Ash, I see you are awake?" the dragon said calmly, as though the previous two minutes had not just happened. "I can tell you've already regained the use of your Aura. Good. Now that we're both back to normal, how about we get back into the land of the living? Time may flow faster here in the jewel, but at least half an hour has passed outside, so we should get back before Latias gets _too _worried." He said, shaking his head at the end. His sister was so strange, he thought idly. Ash nodded, it was clear he wanted out of the Soul Dew, and Latios couldn't blame him. Neither of them had particularly good memories with it. Latios exerted some of his power, and the world faded, before reforming into the shape of the garden. Ash was lying on his back next to the fountain, and Latios was actually lying _on top _of it. Embarrassed, he quickly hovered over to Ash, helping him get up. Latios looked around curiously, it appeared that not much had changed while he was gone. As he looked around some more, the Eon heard a slight gasp behind him, and turned to see Bianca looking at him in shock, amazement, and… was_ that fear? _That couldn't be good. He saw her eyes roll up into her head as she passed out, and he darted to catch her. Looked like he and Ash were going to have a _lot _of explaining to do when she woke up.

**ThatGallade: So, tell me how this chapter was! I kind of rushed it because I didn't want to wait too long due to the length of the chapter, so please tell me about improvements I can make and things to avoid next chapter. Depending on how much you all point out, I may or may not repost this chapter. Not entirely sure. Also, Latios is back! I noticed not too many people did that, so I decided to do so, mainly because I like his character. I may or may not have overcomplicated the Soul Dew, but that will not be changed, sorry. Also, I've added a poll as to whether or not to bring Bianca as a travelling companion. Go there to vote, telling me in a review will not count. **

**NOW, ONTO THE REVIEWS!**

Flamin'Moya14: I'm glad to see that you think this has potential. I wasn't quite sure where to go with it, so I started in my own way. (I hope.)

DayZApprentice: Not entirely sure if this counts or not because we talk so often, but still, glad to see you like it! I was worried about the flow, so I'm happy it flowed fairly well. (Flowed? Flew? I dunno.)

WhiteEagle: Thanks, that's what I was going for!

jordanobx: I'm happy that I have potential. I'm not that great as a writer, so seeing people like my work makes me happy I chose to write this!

overkiller125: really don't care too much, but try to refrain from reviewing three times about another story. I heard you the first time, no need to keep saying sorry.

DragonNOOB: Why thank you! Yes, I enjoy a good Altoshipping as well, but they are so rare these days… I hope this will become one of the more popular ones. Also, yes, I'm trying to use the ideas of others in my own way, without just stealing ideas. I thank other Altoshipping authors for their brilliance!

Storylover Vodhr- Dux Ducis: Damn, this one is LONG. Yeah, I was worried about the 3rd person POV, so I tried to change the way it was written in this chapter. I hope it turns out better. The bit with disclaimers already showed up at the top of the chapter, but still, thanks again! Also, I was wondering, what exactly do you mean by "gone horribly right"? I find that curious. Still, no flames yet, so all's well so far! I noticed you were talking about making a story too serious, so I hope this chapter helped. I tried to make it somewhat serious while still fairly lighthearted, and I think I did a fairly good job! I have to say thank you for helping me out, that review was appreciated, and I feel that it brought up the quality of this chapter.

**ThatGallade: Well, that's it for the reviews! Also, remember; REVIEW DAMMIT! Reviews are an author's bread and butter (for the most part) and we need them to improve our story and increase the quality and skill of our writing. I prefer to wait until I get a good bit of reviews before working on the next chapter, so keep on talking! Sure I have to write more in these ANs, but I prefer that than to have none at all! I'd bring Ash over, but he's unconscious again, so I'll just leave him be, for now, that is…**

**Thanks all for motivation, especially you DayZ, you're the one that convinced me to publish in the first place! I love seeing that so many people are liking this story, and that even more are reading it, it has exceeded my expectations in all ways!**

**ThatGalladeAcrossTheStreet, out!**


	3. Chapter 3

**ThatGallade: Yes, I am BAAAAAAAAAAACK! Sorry for the wait everyone, a combination of factors including moving, data limits, and my computer crashing with me losing all AEG data has kept me from updating when I wanted to. Sorry. But it's back, and this chapter is likely going to be mediocre because I can't remember jack shit from my previous writing of Chapter 3. Again, sorry.**

**Ash: He really is sorry, something which surprised me greatly. I didn't think he had that range of emotions yet. Mostly all he thinks about is anger, hate, and general irritation.**

**ThatGallade: Screw you too. God why are you so annoying… I've never been so happy to inflict serious pain on a person in my life… NOW, ONTO THE STORY!**

Last Chapter:

_"So Ash, I see you are awake?" the dragon said calmly, as though the previous two minutes had not just happened. "I can tell you've already regained the use of your Aura. Good. Now that we're both back to normal, how about we get back into the land of the living? Time may flow faster here in the jewel, but at least half an hour has passed outside, so we should get back before Latias gets __too __worried." He said, shaking his head at the end. His sister was so strange, he thought idly. Ash nodded, it was clear he wanted out of the Soul Dew, and Latios couldn't blame him. Neither of them had particularly good memories with it. Latios exerted some of his power, and the world faded, before reforming into the shape of the garden. Ash was lying on his back next to the fountain, and Latios was actually lying __on top __of it. Embarrassed, he quickly hovered over to Ash, helping him get up. Latios looked around curiously, it appeared that not much had changed while he was gone. As he looked around some more, the Eon heard a slight gasp behind him, and turned to see Bianca looking at him in shock, amazement, and… was__ that fear? __That couldn't be good. He saw her eyes roll up into her head as she passed out, and he darted to catch her. Looked like he and Ash were going to have a __lot __of explaining to do when she woke up._

"So, what now?"-normal speech

"_I'm heading out."- telepathy_

_I love Pokémon.-thoughts and/or emphasis_

_**Chapter Three: Transformation**_

(3rd Person from Latios's POV (I'm just making this shit up now.))

Latios shook himself slightly, sweating. When she woke back up, Bianca would not be pleasant. Sure, she was nice, and rather pretty, to be honest, but she was like Ash's other friend Misty, and had aviolent streak a mile long. Oh no, it would _not _be fun in any way, shape, or form for the blue dragon… He hoped Ash would be willing to share some of the pain. _Ash? ASH! _The Eon remembered that the teen was likely still unconscious, as that "awakening", for lack of a better word, would take a lot of energy from anyone involved, whether they were the subject of said awakening or not. He also remembered that the glowing and firework-like effects would have likely gotten the attention of the other residents of the garden. He focused his senses. _It seems like they are almost here already. _He could sense several minds coming towards him at a fast pace, definitely Lorenzo and Ash's friends. Remembering the problem at hand, he craned his neck back to where the boy lay. Ash was laughing softly, having seen the Eon's face and worry over what would likely happen when Bianca awoke. He was rolling around slightly, coughing and gasping for-wait _what? _All of a sudden, a massive shockwave blew through the area, knocking the Eon back and sending up a large cloud of dust.

As the dust cleared, Latios craned his neck to get a better look. Ash lay in a crater on the ground, chest up. His face was contorted in pain, and violent tremors raced up his body. As a particularly large one hit, his body flashed and another shockwave spread outward, blowing Misty and Brock off their feet, and Lorenzo was barely standing. He blinked, and suddenly there was Latias, floating next to the teen, trying frantically to help him. Soon, the waves began to speed up, and the air around Ash began to ripple with power. He opened his eyes, a pleading look in them, before his body was engulfed in a bright white light that flooded the whole area, blinding everyone and forcing the dragoness back.

(Ash's POV)

He couldn't see anything, but the pain had dulled. Ash didn't know what happened, one second he was laughing at the Eon's fear of Bianca and his crash landing into the pool, the next he was lying on the ground, in severe pain and gasping for air. Now he was still on the ground, bathed in a bright light. His body felt… different. There were some odd growths on his back that he could feel. He tried to see if he could move them, and they twitched lightly, but he couldn't do any more. Deciding to see what it was later, he returned his thoughts to the big problem. The light dimmed just slightly, and he tried to look around, but his neck felt oddly long, and it was difficult. He managed to move his head slightly, trying to get used to a long neck. He could faintly see the pool/fountain of the Soul Dew a few meters away, and went as if to walk over, before suddenly realizing. _He had no legs! _Very worried now, he dragged himself slowly in the direction of the pool.

It took a few minutes, but he finally managed to drag himself over to the water. The light dimmed further, and he could see his hand if he moved it directly in front of his eyes. However, something was wrong. He thought he was hallucinating at first, because there was no way he not had claws instead of fingers, right? There was no way he only had three claws now, he must have been seeing things. Too panicked to think about using his Aura, he moved a bit closer to the water and to try and get a better look at himself. He _had _to know what was happening, because something was seriously wrong. He dragged himself the last few inches and looked down into the water, and reeled at what he saw.

The crimson eyes and dark cerulean draconian form of a Latios looked back up at him. He now knew why he'd felt some growths on his back earlier, they were _wings_! Despite his panic and fear at what brought on this… change… he couldn't help but feel slightly giddy that he had wings. He tried to move them, but was disappointed when he all he could do was move them slightly up and down. Ash could see that his body was somewhat small for a Latios, and his eyes were somewhat darker, but otherwise he looked to be the same, more or less. He could tell that rather than power, the body he had was built more for speed and agility, even more so than Latios, and seemed to be built compact for hit and run attacks.

As he marveled at his new appearance, Ash looked over, and saw Latios on the ground a few meters away from him. He was relieved, it seemed that the dragon was more or less unharmed, aside from whatever had happened before. He could also hear his friends getting up, and realized that shit was about to hit the fan. They wouldn't see Ash anymore, they'd see two Latios and a Latias, and would likely panic. He contemplated for a moment. It was clear he'd been transformed because something or other with the Soul Dew, and because of that, Latios was alive as well. There appeared to be no major adverse effects to these events, aside from the possibility that he'd before forever stuck as a Latios. That didn't sound so bad, actually… He hoped that he'd be able to switch back at some point though, the idea of being captured was… less than appealing to him…

All the thoughts running through his head did so in only a moment, his Psychic-enhanced brain calculating and thinking at an exponentially faster rate, even with the Aura assisting his human mind. It also allowed him to determine how to levitate somewhat, and he immediately did so, as sitting on the ground would dirty up his feathers. Yet another part of him he'd have to get used to, feathers.

While Ash was distracted, Brock had managed to stand and was assisting Misty in getting to her feet. He looked around, but his vision was still obscured somewhat. He could make out some draconic figures not far away, where he was fairly sure that Ash had been earlier. Deciding that going over would be the best option at the current time, he shuffled slowly over, movement impaired by injuries sustained in the blast. As he got closer, there were three draconic figures discernable, which surprised him. Weren't there only two Eons? Now he had to figure this out. As the dust cleared, he could finally see what was going on, and it surprised him, to so say the least.

(3rd from Latios POV)

Latios could still hear the blast ringing in his ears. It just wouldn't go away and it was pissing him off. Quickly levitating off the ground so as to not dirty himself further, he looked around. He could see Latias not far away, looking worse for wear. It made sense, he supposed, after all, she was the closest on to Ash when the explosions started. Hovering over, he could see that aside from a few scuffs and small cuts she was alright. Turning his attention back to where Ash was he thought about what had happened. Something had clearly gone wrong with the stabilizing process. He knew Ash had been severely weakened by reviving him, and he'd had to give some of himself in return to the teen so as not to have him pass on. Perhaps something had gone wrong at that part? He _did _feel a bit weaker than he should have, even with the energy transferal, so perhaps there was too much of his own energy that had entered Ash? That was possible, but didn't explain why the shockwaves had started unless… oh… _shit..._

Latios could now sense three draconic energies instead of the two there should have been, and suddenly, it all started to make sense. He had poured just a tad too much of his soul and Aura into the Guardian, and as an Aura Guardian with advanced abilities and a natural tendency to refine his essence, the effects of the dragon's Aura were magnified tenfold. Normally, giving someone a piece of a Legendary Pokémon's soul would usually give them a power boost, if they were a Psychic or Aura Guardian, enhanced resistance, and extended life. However, the fact that the dragon had given a bit more than he should, combined with Ash's unusually strong sensitivity to the Aura, even for a Guardian, had caused the process to go haywire. Now, he had another Latios that should have been human on his hands, a sister with a serious thing for said Latios, and said Latios's human companions heading right for them. Oh yes, shit was about to hit the fan in three, two-

"WHAT THE HELL!?" a voice that he could recognize as Brock's shouted. _And here is the fun part. Explaining to them what had just happened and why their friend is now a dragon. Lovely. Well, I suppose I may as well get this over with…_

"_Hey, over here!" _he called to the surprised man, trying to get his attention before the surprise got to him. _"I can explain, Brock. Ash helped me, to put it bluntly. He used a part of his soul and a large portion of his Aura to strengthen me enough to break free of my bonds and reenter the world. However, I had to give him some of my _own _soul and Aura to keep him from dying. It seems, however, that I may have given him a bit too much…" _the dragon continued. _"Combined with his incredible aptitude for Aura, much stronger even than a lot of Guardians, and he ended up transforming. There was enough Latios energy in him that it took over, at least for now. It _should _be reversible though, so don't flip out yet." _he advised.

"I see…" Brock replied, recovering quickly. "It would seem that Ash's strange luck has struck yet again. Ugh, it's getting to the point that I'm almost expecting this to happen." He complained mildly. Why couldn't things just stay simple around Ash?

"_I'm sorry, I feel like this is my fault, for asking him to restore me." _The dragon lamented. _"Nonetheless, what's done is done. We can only hope these changes will be all positive." _Said Latios.

"_Can you all stop talking about me like I'm not even here? Seriously, that's just rude." _Ash complained mildly. _"I don't know about you, but I'm liking this. It's nice to be able to better understand what it's like to be a Pokémon, and at the very least, my Aura is exponentially stronger. I feel like I could take on an army of Tauros!" _he told the Eon. _"Only thing is; I have no idea how to use this body. I can levitate a bit, so at least I won't be stuck here on the ground forever, but I have no idea how to actually _do _anything with it. I know I can move around a bit, but I'd prefer to be in my human body for the time being, as I understand it better. Do you know a way to let me take on a human form?" _he asked.

Latios mused for a second. _"Yes, it should be that you can take a human form like me and my sister. Imagine your old body, and focus on every detail. Leave nothing out." _the dragon explained. _"When you are ready, focus your psychic energy into your form. See yourself changing and shifting back to a human. It will take some time at first, but eventually you will be able to do it quickly at will. If it tingles, it's working." _he said.

The dragon watched in amusement as Ash scrunched up his face, trying to gather his power. Eventually, a teal glow coalesced around him, and Ash's draconic form twisted and warped back to that of a human. Eventually, the glow faded, and the dragon could see that Ash had made a rather amusing mistake.

"AH! Where are my clothes!?" he cried. Ash was completely naked except for his belt for pokeballs. Latios watched as Brock reeled, this was _not _what he'd wanted to see today. Meanwhile, his sister flushed, her face the color of her feathers. _Well, at least she knows what he's _not _failing in… _he thought as he covered his eyes. While he was glad to be alive again, this wasn't really what he'd wanted to see upon his return. Urk…

"_Okay, turn back turn back TURN BACK!" _the dragon cried mentally. Ash thankfully complied, shifting back into a Latios. _"I'm sorry Ash, but it would appear that you haven't yet gotten the skill you need to transform with clothes on. It'll take practice, that's for sure." _the dragon lamented. Ash scowled, or at least tried to do so in his Eon forme, and grumbled under his breath. Latios chuckled. It seemed that even as a mature Aura Guardian, Ash was still a child at heart. Turning his attention back to their current predicament, Latios decided that they needed to get to Bianca's home. He looked over and saw that she was still asleep. _She looks so cute when she curls up like that… Wait what?_ Surprised by the direction his thoughts were going in, the dragon shook his head before floating over and levitating her onto his back. He could see Brock helping Misty to walk, despite her protests, but no sign of Lorenzo. He swiveled his head, trying to find the older man, but had no success. Confused, he floated over to Ash to see if he knew where he was.

As it turned out, Ash knew exactly where Lorenzo was. The rotund man was sitting on the ground, eyes wide in shock. He was stuttering random words about, seemingly unable to get any proper thoughts to form. Latios sighed. It seemed this one would be particularly difficult. Based off of the events in Altomare leading to his… passing (he shivered slightly here; having your soul trapped in a tiny orb with no means of escape was not pleasant by any means. At least you could get out of a pokeball.), and what he'd been told before that chaos, Ash and his friends got into misadventures quite frequently, and would adjust more quickly to the surprise of their companion being a Legendary Dragon. Lorenzo, on the other hand, was not used to such things, and was making it glaringly obvious. Tired and wanting to get to Bianca's for some R&amp;R, he gently sent the man into sleep and levitated him, before setting off toward the house, Ash and Latias trailing behind him with Brock, who was explaining to Misty what had happened. He _really _needed a nap.

_**A WILD LINE BREAK APPEARED! TRAINER THATGALLADE USES REPEL! IT'S SUPER EFFECTIVE! (anyone that knows what repel **_**really **_**is gets a cookie. Hint: It's super effective.)**_

Latios groaned as he finally reached the threshold of Bianca's home. It was a simple one story building connected to the garden. The door to the garden was barred from the outside, preventing entry without someone with access to the garden allowing it. It had a large window that let it's occupant see out towards the Soul Dew off in the distance, and had a distinct homely feel, despite the fact that there were art supplies _everywhere. _He turned around to see Ash floating behind him, thinking, and Brock was carrying Misty behind him. Latias was talking telepathically with Misty, trying to keep her mind off the pain. At some point, the girl's legs had given out, and they'd had to wait a couple of minutes as she recovered. It seemed that her left calf had been fractured by the pressure wave and the shrapnel it kicked up, and she was in substantial pain.

He hovered through the doorway, entering the living room and setting Bianca down on the L-shaped couch. Lorenzo was placed on the recliner, Latios figuring that the older man would need it once he woke back up. He turned to see Brock set Misty down next to Bianca on the couch, and she hissed in pain. Brock frowned before picking up his bag from beside the door. He'd left it there when they'd felt the shockwave and he was pretty sure he had some painkillers in there. As he dug through his pack, Latios watched as Ash laid himself down on the other end of the couch, slowly falling asleep. Latias was growing tired as well, and he watched amused as she lied down on the floor next to him, frowning that both dragons couldn't fit ont eh couch, before succumbing to her exhaustion. They were tired, the dragon could tell, particularly Ash. From the moment the teen had set foot (or jumped off the boat, according to Brock) on Altomare, he'd been swept up in another adventure. Latios felt bad for him. He was seventeen and yet he'd had to do so much for the world. Between Celebi, Lugia, and that false Entei, not to mention what he'd done for him and Latias, and Latios couldn't help but feel respect for him and his deeds. He just wished there was a way to repay him for all of his help.

Latios shook his head. He could think about this later. With the events of the day finally catching up, the dragon was growing exhausted. His energy still hadn't fully returned yet from his time in the Dew, and he'd had to deal with an explosion and a human-turned-Latios right after. Right now, he just wanted to take a nap. Not caring where he was, the dragon set himself down and lay on the couch. He was almost asleep when he felt a pair of arms encircle his neck. Not wanting to disturb whoever it was, he reached out with his senses to determine who it was. His eyes flew open. He was sleeping with Bianca. He. Eon Dragon of Altomare. Was sleeping with Bianca. His best friend and the prettiest girl he-wait what? Great, he was so tired he was thinking thoughts that just didn't make any sense. His weariness catching up to him, he let his eyes droop and slowly drifted off into the realm of Cresselia.

**ThatGallade: Hey, see, I'm alive and currently working hard again! I admit, I've been distracted lately between finals, Destiny, and laziness, and I haven't worked as much as I should have been. But I've returned now, and I want to keep going. I can't promise fast and frequent updates, but I'm aiming for at least once every other week to once a month. I know that's not great, but it's taking me time to get back into the rhythm of things again. Hopefully I can start doing once a week.**

**Anyway, since I haven't done anything in a while, I decided to treat you all. Over three thousand words of Altoshipping right here! Maybe not yet, but it'll be there. On the other hand, we have some Latios/Bianca fluff starting up! I know it might seem a bit fast, but also consider that they have known each other for years longer than Ash and Latias have, and are close friends. Now to review responses! Some of these may have been responded to in PMs, but I'm too lazy to check.**

**DragonNOOB: Glad to see that you think so, and I hope this chapter is up to par as well!**

**WhiteEagle1985: Thanks a lot!**

**Uranium235: Glad to see you think so, and I hope you like this one! Thanks for the fix with the poll, I'm pretty sure I changed that. Pretty sure. **

**Storylover Vodhr- Dux Ducis: Alright, I will try to avoid the pitchforks and torches for now. Peasant mobs are no fun. Anyway, I'm glad to see you noticed! I'm trying to balance between lightness and seriousness, and I think I've done alright with balancing it. Still not sure if my pacing is really good, but I'm hoping this is adequate for the time being.**

**auraRilou: I'm glad to see you're interested in AEG, it makes me feel good about myself. I myself wasn't sure about the Aura and Soul part, so I'm glad to see that you liked it.**

**Guardian Samuel: Personal opinions have been taken into consideration, and we have discussed this. I appreciate your input and can only hope this chapter is up to standards!**

**Pyroguardian-of-thewhiteflame: first off, your name is a mouthful! Not like I can talk though, as ThatGalladeAcrossTheStreet, but anyway I'm glad to see another Alto fan out here, it means we are gaining more of a following. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Sothe17: I'm glad to see you think this story has potential. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I should probably get that checked out, it's never happened before. Thank you for your words, and enjoy this extra long chapter!**

**dragonrising: Lol, just ran into my story? I'm happy that it's got enough content there to get your attention! Thank you for reading it so far!**

**Sorry for everyone else that reviewed, know that I do read them, it's just that with the current length of actual story I feel like there's too much AN here. I'm gonna stop now, just remember that I'm fairly sure that the poll is still up. If it's not or something is wrong, PM me. ThatGallade, out!**


	4. Chapter 4

**ThatGallade: Hello, peoples! I have returned once more! Slow updates suck, but I'm not really the kind of person to do this sort of thing at all, so be happy. I'm happy to see all the positive feedback from chapter 3, it appears that what I pulled out of my ass was **_**not **_**in fact shit after all! YAY!**

**Ash: Shocking. I, for one am surprised you managed to pull that off at all. That, and it hurts being in this Eon body. Everything is aching from yesterday's drama…**

**ThatGallade: Yeah, sorry, but it had to be done. Plus, you have to admit, being a dragon is pretty awesome. Also, assume the beginning of this is taking place the next morning.**

Last Chapter:

_Latios shook his head. He could think about this later. With the events of the day finally catching up, the dragon was growing exhausted. His energy still hadn't fully returned yet from his time in the Dew, and he'd had to deal with an explosion and a human-turned-Latios right after. Right now, he just wanted to take a nap. Not caring where he was, the dragon set himself down and lay on the couch. He was almost asleep when he felt a pair of arms encircle his neck. Not wanting to disturb whoever it was, he reached out with his senses to determine who it was. His eyes flew open. He was sleeping with Bianca. He. Eon Dragon of Altomare. Was sleeping with Bianca. His best friend and the prettiest girl he-wait what? Great, he was so tired he was thinking thoughts that just didn't make any sense. His weariness catching up to him, he let his eyes droop and slowly drifted off into the realm of Cresselia._

"So, what now?"-normal speech

_"I'm heading out."- telepathy_

_I love Pokémon.-thoughts and/or emphasis_

_**Chapter Four: Awakenings**_

(3rd Person from Latios's POV)

It was Latios that woke first out of all of them. He hovered slightly, swiveling his head so as to get a better look around. He looked over to see Ash laying on the other end of the couch, Latias on the floor next to him. He chuckled mentally. Those two were so cute at times. He could see Brock asleep in the recliner that he knew Lorenzo liked when he was over. There were times when Lorenzo wanted to be closer to the garden than just his workshop, which wasn't really the ideal place to stay. Misty was on the floor not far from Brock, laying on a blanket with a brace on her injured leg. She appeared to be having quite pleasant dreams, if her half-giggles were any indication. It appeared that Brock's painkillers had similar effects to most others, notably opiates. _She is going to be out of it when she wakes up_… the dragon thought idly.

He looked over to the kitchen, using his keen eyes to search for snacks. He saw some Bluk and Pecha berries on the dining table, presumably from when the other were eating before Ash blew up part of the garden. He hovered some more, ready to go over and get a bite to eat, when he felt a pressure on his neck. _Curious,_ he thought. _Why does my neck feel almost… heavier? _He reached out with his senses to figure out what was going on, and felt a familiar mind. _Oh… _the dragon thought mentally, remembering what had happened in the chaos of the day before, and falling asleep with Bianca. She had curled up to him even more in her sleep, with her head nestled between his wing and his neck. This could be bad, because if Bianca woke up and saw who she was sleeping with, she'd either get incredibly flustered, or get angry. _Lovely. _he thought. Well, he was hungry, and so would have to brave her wrath if he wanted breakfast. Bracing himself, he sent out a small pulse of energy toward her, trying to wake her.

He watched in a tense silence as she shifted slightly, before yawning. The girl stretched her arms, wondering why they were hugging something, before her eyes fluttered open into Latios's crimson orbs. Surprised, she shrieked and threw him off, and he cried out as his head smashed into the coffee table, a solid oak that would hurt anyone or anything that hit it at speed. The noise startled Ash and Brock awake, who looked around to see Latios on the ground, eyes swirled and Bianca breathing lightly, eyes wide.

_Urrrgh, that hurt so bad… _the eon complained mentally. He shook himself and floated off the ground, getting his bearings through blurry vision. His vision was filled with sparkles, and he shook his head, trying to clear it. A few seconds later, he could see clearly enough to discern _what _exactly had thrown him, and his cheeks burst crimson. Bianca was even redder than he was, having likely worked out exactly _who _she had been snuggling with earlier. She was stuttering slightly, but he could not tell if it was from shock at seeing him alive, or the embarrassment of being seen more or less attached to him. He heard laughter from behind him, and turned to see Latias, who had finally awoken, laughing hysterically at what had happened. Ash was grinning, and Brock could be seen hiding a smirk. Deciding to get her attention before she fainted again, he connected to her mind, sending over soothing thoughts. She relaxed slightly, and didn't appear to being unconscious yet, so the dragon took this as a good sign. After a few minutes, he decided that she was no longer likely to pass out and broke the link. She slumped slightly, before sitting back and working out what had happened.

"So…" she started. "You're back."

"_Mhm, I am. You sound very enthusiastic about it." _Latios deadpanned.

"Sorry, it's just taking me some time to get used to this." She explained. "I just can't believe that you're back, it will be difficult to get used to having you around again…" she said tiredly. "I shouldn't be surprised anyway. I contact Ash every now and then, and he's told me of his adventures from his League days. Somehow, this doesn't surprise me at all." she said calmly. He sweatdropped. _Well, she's taking this very well. _he thought. "Anyway, Ash." he said. "How are you getting used to the new body? Can you turn invisible yet?" he asked. Invisibility was a critical defense for the Eon dragons, as something that can't be seen is substantially harder to hit, whether it be with a pokeball, attack, or shock net. He shivered. The pain from that day… It was awful.

He looked up to see Ash floating by him. "It's okay." the teen said calmly. "I know what you're thinking. I've had more than a few injuries myself, you should check out my human face sometime. It's not a pretty sight." he said self-deprecatingly. "You just have to remember that the past is the past, and if you don't move on now, you never will." he explained. _"And if you don't move on now, how can you expect to impress Bianca?" _Ash telepathed to him. Latios turn crimson, and Bianca and Latias giggled madly.

"Look at his face!" Bianca laughed. "I don't know what you said to him, other-wait. Who exactly _are _you, anyway?" she asked suspiciously. Ash blinked. _Did he really expect to just pop in as a Latios and for her to just recognize him immediately? You are such an idiot. _he thought, amusement filling his mental voice.

"_I'm the one that gets roped into crazy-ass adventures a lot, nearly dies a _lot, _and flirts with Latias." _Ash telepathed. _"You have three guesses." _ he said.

"Ash." she said immediately. "You should come up with harder questions next time." she deadpanned. Ash slumped. Latios thought that Ash should have supposed that should have been an easy one.

"_Anyway, we need to figure out what we're going to do now." _Ash telepathed. _"Latios, you're still considered dead to the populace. How exactly are we going to go about saying you're alive?" _he asked.

"_Easy, I'm a Legendary Pokémon. Many people believe we're immortal. Of course, that's not the case, we simply age _very _slowly. However, they don't need to know that." _he explained. It was nice being alive again, especially now that the Soul Dew was protected. He'd placed a layer of protection that prevented contact with the Dew by any substance other than other Eons, which were currently himself, Ash, and Latias (I refuse to believe that Tobias has a Latios _or _a Darkrai. There are very few Legendaries, and major ones don't have any kin. Darkrai has like three other Darkrai, but some, like Zekrom, have no others.). The Dew would be safe for now.

"_That reminds me," _he telepathed. _"The Soul Dew is now protected by an energy field I put up around it. Nobody and nothing can touch it other than an Eon, unless they want some… _unpleasant _results." _he telepathed.

Lorenzo, who had just arrived in the room from his bedroom upstairs, nodded. He was about to ask the dragon if the Dew would still be safe, but it seemed that it would be fine. He'd still put up a cage around it though, to prevent anyone from accidentally hitting it with a baseball or something. "Alright, if the Dew is protected, then that means we can rest easy." he said happily. "Finally, I can get back to building my gondolas again…" he sighed.

"Wait, if the Dew is protected, then does that mean you two aren't needed here anymore?" Bianca asked curiously. Latios looked down. Did she really not want him around after he'd just gotten back? He could feel Latias's sadness as well, and didn't need to have mental powers to notice that she was quite disheartened by her friend's words. He sighed. _"I suppose not… If you don't want us around, then why don't you just go with Ash or something?" _he asked irritably. Bianca smiled.

"Actually, I was considering going with Ash anyway. I want to go outside Altomare, see the world and draw all the Pokémon in it!" she said passionately. He looked away. _I guess my friendship really is that much of a pain… _he thought sadly. "Now hold on Latios, you didn't let me finish!" she said sternly, hands on her hips. "I was asking if you two weren't needed here because I want you two to come with us!" she said brightly. "I think Ash would love to have you as part of his team!" she explained.

He looked up in shock. He'd never considered the idea of leaving Altomare… It had always seemed like an impossible dream, that he'd always be tied down here, never leaving the island city. On the other side of the couch, Latias was bouncing around, trying and failing to contain her joy, which was radiating throughout the room. "Wait, do I have a say in this?" a voice interjected.

"It's not that I don't want you two around, I'm just worried. I get into more trouble than you would believe, and I can show you." Ash said seriously, hovering over to the bags by the door. He looked through one marked _Ashy-Boy_, grumbling about someone named Gary before grabbing some items and flying upstairs. He supposed Brock and Misty had brought the Eon Teen's bag with them to Bianca's before he went to the Garden. Latios wondered what Ash wanted to show them. _Why would he look through his bag before just flying upstairs like that? Is there something he wanted to hide? _the dragon wondered.

A few minutes later, Ash came back down in human form, wearing only a pair of shorts. Everyone but Brock and Misty gasped. His body had various scars on it, including some wicked slashes on his face. They had missed his eye, but they disfigured the teen's face slightly; he had the feeling that he had trouble in public because of it. However, that was just part of it. Ash had a myriad of cuts all over from minor injuries, and large burn scar on his left leg. There was also a curved scar from his stomach to his right side, as well as a large laceration on his chest, looking around three years old. The teen followed his eyes, giving a cold laugh. "Yeah, you can thank Pinmissile for that, some asshole with a Beedrill was abusing his Pokémon. I got in the way of it and earned this for my efforts." he said hollowly. "If it helps, the other guy was half dead when I put him away. The gash is from a particularly nasty Bisharp. He got better though, and works as a security guard at the Day Care in Sinnoh." he said, considerably warmer this time.

"_Ash… If you think that we're going to back away because you get in trouble every now and then, than think again!" _Latias said forcefully. Latios was surprised. She was actually serious this time; all manner of playfulness was gone. _"I know that I don't care if we get into a fight, and neither does Brother! We'll be with you until the end!" _she said with conviction. He nodded, already agreeing with the idea of coming along. _"Ash." _he telepathed. _"It would actually be safer for us if we go with you. We can defend ourselves to an extent, but we'd be a lot safer if we were with an experienced Trainer such as yourself, especially an Aura Guardian." _he said calmly.

Ash looked conflicted for a while, before sighing. "If you say so…" he said, defeated. "Just… Try to stay out of trouble, ok? I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you two. Same with you Bianca, you're a good friend, I couldn't bear to lose you." he said softly. Latios was touched. Ash really cared that much about them? _I should have known already, but still… It means a lot to me. _he thought.

Meanwhile, Latias was having similar, if somewhat more romantic thoughts. _I can't believe he really cares so much about me! _she squealed in her head. _He's just so kind and compassionate, and he stays that way, despite his rough times. He may be grown up now, but he's still the same one I love. _she thought. _One day… I'll tell him how I feel. _she thought happily.

After a while, the conversation drifted to safer topics. Latios smiled. It was good to be back.

**ThatGallade: Yeah, I'm back! Bianca is now officially part of the group! I'll have to figure out how to write her personality, but I think I can do it! Remember to review, it helps keep me running! Sorry, short AN and no review responses, I'm not supposed to be awake right now. Special thanks to Guardian Samuel for getting me off my ass and making me write it!**


	5. Chapter 5

**ThatGallade: Hey everyone, I'm back again! Sorry for the wait, I've been very busy as of late, and it's been consuming my time. I haven't been feeling it lately, I suppose. This chapter likely won't be up to par, but I wanted to get something out, and needed to put my ideas down before I forgot once again. Perhaps not the best reason, but there isn't much I can do.**

**Ash: He's actually sorry here, things have been busy, and this chapter was supposed to be released by April.**

**ThatGallade: Yeah, shit's been real busy lately. Spent all of Memorial Day weekend helping with repairing a roof. Didn't even finish. The food was worth it though. Before I ramble any longer, as Pokémon is a Japanese creation, the metric system **_**will **_**be the primary system of measurement here. I may or may not mock this "standard" system in the future. I am a not-so-proud American, and our system sucks.**

Last Chapter:

"_Ash… If you think that we're going to back away because you get in trouble every now and then, than think again!" _Latias said forcefully. Latios was surprised. She was actually serious this time; all manner of playfulness was gone. _"I know that I don't care if we get into a fight, and neither does Brother! We'll be with you until the end!" _she said with conviction. He nodded, already agreeing with the idea of coming along. _"Ash." _he telepathed. _"It would actually be safer for us if we go with you. We can defend ourselves to an extent, but we'd be a lot safer if we were with an experienced Trainer such as yourself, especially an Aura Guardian." _he said calmly.

Ash looked conflicted for a while, before sighing. "If you say so…" he said, defeated. "Just… Try to stay out of trouble, ok? I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you two. Same with you Bianca, you're a good friend, I couldn't bear to lose you." he said softly. Latios was touched. Ash really cared that much about them? _I should have known already, but still… It means a lot to me. _he thought.

Meanwhile, Latias was having similar, if somewhat more romantic thoughts. _I can't believe he really cares so much about me! _she squealed in her head. _He's just so kind and compassionate, and he stays that way, despite his rough times. He may be grown up now, but he's still the same one I love. _she thought. _One day… I'll tell him how I feel. _she thought happily.

After a while, the conversation drifted to safer topics. Latios smiled. It was good to be back.

"So, what now?"-normal speech

_"I'm heading out."- telepathy_

_I love Pokémon.-thoughts and/or emphasis_

_**Chapter 5: Peace**_

(3rd Person POV)

It had been a hectic few days, as Ash and his friends continued their stay in Altomare. After relaxing in the garden for a few days, Latios had left, shooting off through the sky to show the populace of his resurrection. The people gawked as he lazily glided through the air, keeping his senses open for stray pokeballs. After returning and subsequently getting chewed out by Bianca for simply leaving all of a sudden, they lounged around for a short while, before Latias decided to be captured by Ash. After a few more talks about what exactly she could be getting into, she joined his team. After some more deliberation, Latios joined them as well.

It was Brock who first noted that if they were captured, they wouldn't have to worry about pokeballs. Though Ash was a bit hesitant to flaunt them around, they eventually came to an accord, and the twins now followed him around, either in human form or invisible. They spent the last couple days of the trip like this, wandering the city, getting ice cream, and seeing the sights. Bianca and Lorenzo were happy to take them through the town, and the town itself seemed almost happy to see them. It was something in the air, which simply had everyone smiling. Even Ash, who rarely gave more than a smirk in public, could be seen laughing animatedly at something Latias had told him, before being given looks by passerby. However, the nineteen year old paid them no mind. Something in the air just had everyone in a good mood. He didn't know what, but he didn't particularly care.

Brock and Misty were happy to see the changes in their friend which had been brought by their visit. Before going to Altomare, he'd been cold and indifferent, choosing to interact with people through a mask of polite calmness. Only with his friends would he interact happily, bantering idly as they went through their travels as part of Ash's 'job'. Now, he talked to them without a care in the world, idly chatting as they wandered through the maze-like city. Brock had a feeling it was to do with Latios, while Misty decided it was just being able to see more old friends again. Either way, he was happy now, and they liked it.

It was the day before departure when the inevitable happened. Misty, being the water-type trainer she is, got roped into a "big game" fishing competition. Ash, with nothing better to do, decided to join as well. Going a couple hundred meters offshore, they stayed on a boat for the majority of the day as Misty and Ash fished with the others, a jolly group of sailors. As the day progressed, they continued to fish, Ash sitting surprisingly patiently on deck as he waited for one of his three allotted poles to move. Misty was less patient, shifting slightly and engaging in a mental conversation with the twins. However, as the days had gone on, Ash had noticed Latias looking somewhat worried, even fearful. He resolved to talk to her about it soon.

Something else was on his mind. Lately, his dreams had been taking an ominous tone, he could feel winds blowing around, and massive thunderclaps off in the distance. His Aura had been fluctuating madly at times, and the day before he'd nearly lost control. His senses were _screaming _that something bad was going to happen soon. Even after carefully scanning his surroundings with his Aura, he couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched.

Despite the relative idleness of fishing on the sea, it provided a good distraction from simply wandering the town. Eventually, however, things got more interesting as Misty landed a Lanturn after a stubborn fight. Not appreciating its day being interrupted, it proceeded to shock them all until Latios succeeded in psychically tossing it off the boat. Ash laughed until he was thrown off too, splashing into the water and attracting the attention of many more Lanturn. After that, the group decided not to go fishing again for a while, but not before they all got electrocuted a few times.

Finally, the day came when they had to leave. After some deliberation a few days before, they'd decided to go to Sinnoh again. Ash had said wanted to visit Dawn and Paul, and catch up with some of the others he'd met there. However, everyone else thought there could have been another motive as well, but his lips were sealed. Boarding the ship, the S.S. New Moon, the group of six waved goodbye to Lorenzo as the ship pulled out of the dock. Heading back down to their room, Latios was surprised to see Bianca with watery eyes. The others, sensing this was a rather private moment, continued on to their room, as Brock entertained the twins with stories from Hoenn.

(Latios POV Modified (man I'm using this way too much.))

Pulling her into a side room, Latios worried over her as she cried lightly. _"Is… everything alright?" _he asked, concerned. Bianca wasn't a crier. Sure, she sometimes got watery eyes when she was angry, and there was the time when he'd-_no. I'm not going there. _he thought, shivering slightly. Looking back at Bianca, he waited for her to collect herself.

"It's just… I'm worried about Grandpa." she said quietly. "You know how he's been lately, he's gotten on up there in years, and I'm not sure he'll be alright if something happens." she explained, worry in her tone. He couldn't help but agree. Lorenzo had been slowing down lately, and he knew the old man was writing a life insurance policy to support Bianca in case of his death. Even while he was in the Soul Dew, Latios could observe the happenings of the city, occasionally nudging a few people in the right direction to keep them safe. He knew _exactly _what had Bianca worried.

"_He'll be fine Bianca." _the Eon assured her. _"Lorenzo is a strong man, and it's not as though he's confined to a wheelchair or something. He's still working hard and keeping healthy, so he'll be fine. I _did _tell him to contact us if anything happened though, and we can return quickly if need be." _he said soothingly. _"Everything will be alright, okay?"_

"Y-yeah, you're right." Bianca said, sniffling slightly. "Thanks Latios, I can always count on you!" she said, smiling and hugging him. Latios blushed a light pink, but wrapped his arms around her.

"_Let's head back to the others, okay?" _he said. Blushing lightly, she detached herself from him, and Latios couldn't quite shake the feeling of loss he felt as she smiled nervously, and they returned to the hallway. _What's happening to me… What is this feeling welling up in me? I-I don't understand… _he thought, frowning mentally. _It doesn't matter. You can always count on me, Bianca… You can be certain of that. _he thought, determined. He got the feeling that something big was going to happen. Good or bad, he didn't know but he couldn't risk it. _If this turns out badly, I swear, I will do everything I can to keep us all safe. _he thought.

(Ash POV Modified)

Ash frowned as he looked up from his cards. He was currently losing spectacularly in double solitaire to Brock, who flattened him every time. "Hey, you think Latios and Bianca are alright?" he asked curiously. He hadn't seen them for almost ten minutes now, and he was starting to get worried. While he knew Latios could certainly take care of himself, he was unsure about Bianca. Before they'd went back to their rooms, she'd clearly been upset about something, and worry was rolling off her in waves. Something wasn't right. "Maybe we should go check on them…" he wondered aloud.

"I'm sure they're fine, Ash." Brock tried to calm the Aura Guardian. "It would make sense that Latios could help with whatever her issue was, he and Latias are the two closest "people" to her on this boat right now." he explained. Nodding, Ash continued their card game, losing another round before giving up.

"I'm through with this! I can never beat you man!" he exclaimed, getting the attention of the two girls in the room as he got up and went over to his bag, getting his CrysBand out of his backpack and fiddling with it, looking through his available team. Seeing Pikachu, Charizard, Sceptile, Wartortle, Staraptor, and Garchomp, he decided the team he had would be good enough for now, and attached it to his wrist, before sitting on the couch and leaning back, thinking.

He was wondering about the potential uses of Shadow Sneak if the user had more than one shadow when Latias floated over to him. Opening one eye, he looked over to see her. "Yeah, whatcha need Tia?" he asked curiously, sitting up.

She shifted a bit, looking rather nervous. _"I-I need to talk to you about something." _she telepathed. He instantly knew something was up. This was so much different from the happy and carefree Latias he normally knew. Lips thinning into a line, he got up and followed her out into the hallway. He followed her as she floated down the hall to a more secluded corridor that was less travelled. Leaning against the wall in a position that looked casual but was actually very alert, he waited for her to speak.

Latias shifted a bit more, and she looked down for a second. _"Ash, I know we all agreed me and Brother would be traveling with you, but how can we be kept safe? With so many other organizations like Team Rocket out there, what can we do to stay safe?" _she asked, some fear in her eyes. _Oh dear… I'd noticed something was up, but not to this degree… _he thought seriously. Walking over, he hesitated a second before hugging her lightly. "Listen, Latias." he began softly. He felt the Eon Dragon's wing-like ears poke up. "I _swear _to you, I will do everything in my power to protect us all. If one of us is kidnapped or stolen away or stranded or _anything like that_, I will save them. If you are kidnapped, I swear to Arceus, I will save you, and hunt down the scumbag that took you to the ends of the earth. _Nothing _will ever separate us by force, do you hear me?" he asked her.

Latias pulled away, and he was worried he'd said the wrong thing when he saw some tears in her eyes. That changed very quickly when she _glomped _him with as much force as she could muster, mental "thank yous" filling his head as she accidentally telepathed everything she thought to him in her state. Simply letting her calm herself, he just embraced her as best he could and wait for her to calm. They stood there for several minutes, standing in a back hallway as she cried softly and he just let her do what she needed.

_This must have been eating away at her for a while now… _he thought solemnly. _I've never seen her this depressed, even when Latios was imprisoned. That nearly broke her, but she pulled back together fairly quickly, though there's no doubt in my mind she was quite depressed for a time. I think it's the fear of her and her brother being separated again that had her worried, combined with the thought that they could both be injured or killed. I _swear _to you Latias, I will do everything in my power to protect you. _he thought seriously.

After standing there for a short while, he pulled away. Seeing her look ready to cry again, he quieted her. "It's okay Tia, we just need to get back to our room before Brock begins to get any ideas. Besides, I feel a storm coming, and I don't want to be outside our rooms when it comes in, okay?" he tried to calm her. Seeing the dragoness nod, he went out to the junction that connected the halls. Seeing nobody in the hall, he turned around and waved for her to come to him. "Alright, there's nobody in the halls for now, so let's get back to the room fast, okay? I get the feeling there will be a lot more people here soon once other passengers detect the storm. It looks rather nasty, to be honest." he said, a bit worried.

Latias nodded, and they made their way to the room as fast as they could without being conspicuous. Ash got out the keycard and swiped it, casting his senses around for he opened the door for her, he heard footsteps down the hall, and someone muttering about the coming squall. "Come on, we need to get in quick before someone see us!" he whispered, pulling her into the room, hurriedly shutting the door behind them.

Turning around, Ash saw everyone in the room looking at them. _Hmm… That was kind of unusual. I seriously hope Brock doesn't get any- nope. Too late. _he sighed as he saw Brock in the "Corner of Depression". _I don't think he ever actually did get anyone while we were in Altomare. Probably for the best, considering we had to leave sometime anyway… _he thought idly.

Seeing Latios and Bianca sitting at the couch, he smiled. "So, you two solve whatever was going on?" he asked cheerfully. They blushed a slight pink, unnoticeable to someone without a trained eye, and Bianca nodded. Ash smirked slightly, getting some rather romantic vibes off them. _Oh, there's no way they confessed, they're both too oblivious of the other's feelings for that, but something definitely happened between them. Good, those two would make a good pairing, judging by how they've acted this last week._ he thought, smiling. Going over and getting a snack, he sat down in a chair, watching as Bianca and Latios watched a Contest. "Hey, I know her." he said suddenly, looking at the screen again. "That's Dawn, we used to travel through Sinnoh together years ago. Looks like she's still doing well." he said, happy to see his friend doing well with her career.

(3rd Person POV)

They continued the rest of the day, staying in their room. The group was eating lunch when the storm suddenly arrived. Everyone was on edge as the winds blew on, occasional bouts of thunder rolling over the ship, but the great titan of the sea stayed firm and unyielding. However, the storm only grew worse, strengthening to the point that it became a small hurricane. Suddenly, a massive bolt of lightning struck near the ship, and Ash screamed. A malevolent Aura was inhabiting the storm, strengthening it and trying to do as much damage as possible. Concerned, Latias and Latios hovered over to their trainer, who had curled up into a fetal position, his eyes hollow as he tried to keep his mind about him. This storm- no, this _tempest _just felt so… _wrong. _There was something… chaotic… about it. It wasn't evil, it wasn't dark, it just wanted to destroy.

Suddenly, the smell of ozone filled the air, and Ash had a second to look up and project a barrier or his own pure power before a massive pillar of lightning flew down from the heavens.

**ThatGallade: AAAAAAAANND, CLIFFY! Sorry not sorry, this is what I wanted. Okay, so I'm going to try not to break off from the story's original feel, but things aren't going to be super happy-go-lucky. Cerebus Syndrome is starting here. Hypothesize what you want about what happens next, but you'll have to wait. Also, while I have an idea about what the villain will be, I need to know what my lovely readers prefer for a villain, so a poll will be going up soon. Also, I'm still taking ideas about the villain as well, so leave your ideas in the reviews or PM me, and I can guarantee I will at **_**least **_**look it over.**

**For the chapter itself, we have some feels and a lot of emotional distress. I feel like it's founded though, because they are basically leaving their home behind for an unknown amount of time. Latios is only keeping it together because he was forced to grow up to an adult to care for his sister, and is wiser than Bianca and Latias. Then, big mood change. Yeah, it happened quickly, but I **_**did **_**leave little hints in this chapter that shit was going to hit the fan. I feel I'm going the right way, so please bear with me.**

**Hope you all liked this chapter, and remember! Review, dammit!**


	6. Chapter 6

**ThatGallade: Hey, thanks for the prompt response everyone, it's much appreciated! I know my decision was a bit controversial, but in all honesty, I don't like having parts of my story being ignored, whether it's a poll, review count, ANs (which often involve my own personal thoughts) etc. I know it comes off as whiny and entitled, but I feel that I'm correct here.**

**So, having seen the polls and read the reviews, I have made my choice: Villainous Team! However, ImmortalDragon2 brought up a good point: why not use both? So while Villainous Team is the primary, there will be a Big Bad that controls them, and possibly a few secondary antagonists as well. The Team will be the primary threat, but the Big Bad will have control of them as well as a few people on the side. Also, I **_**cannot **_**stress this enough: I already had a basic idea for **_**both **_**sides of the poll for a few chapters, got it? I make these things up on the fly, but I have a method to my madness.**

**Now, enough about me and my opinions (which totally reminds me, rest in peace Satoru Iwata, you will be missed). I'm sorry for the wait, I had to go to a camp the week before which kept me **_**very **_**occupied, and I've been busy this week as well. Anyway, let's get on with the plot, shall we? One last thing though, in regards to POV of my stories I prefer to write in a modified POV of one of the chars if at all possible, it's just more comfortable. If anyone has an issue, please, leave a review or PM me about it.**

Last Chapter:

_They continued the rest of the day, staying in their room. The group was eating lunch when the storm suddenly arrived. Everyone was on edge as the winds blew on, occasional bouts of thunder rolling over the ship, but the great titan of the sea stayed firm and unyielding. However, the storm only grew worse, strengthening to the point that it became a small hurricane. Suddenly, a massive bolt of lightning struck near the ship, and Ash screamed. A malevolent Aura was inhabiting the storm, strengthening it and trying to do as much damage as possible. Concerned, Latias and Latios hovered over to their trainer, who had curled up into a fetal position, his eyes hollow as he tried to keep his mind about him. This storm- no, this tempest just felt so… wrong. There was something… chaotic… about it. It wasn't evil, it wasn't dark, it just wanted to destroy._

_Suddenly, the smell of ozone filled the air, and Ash had a second to look up and project a barrier or his own pure power before a massive pillar of lightning flew down from the heavens._

"So, what now?"-normal speech

_"I'm heading out."- telepathy[_

_I love Pokémon.-thoughts and/or emphasis_

_**Chapter 6: Darkness Rising**_

(Ash's POV Modified)

Ash cringed as the barrier was struck with the force of a truck, smoke filling the room. He waited a second, before looking up at his shield, gasping as it was severely damaged. Cracks riddled the barrier, and he could feel his power slowly leaking from it. Above him, the ship had been devastated, a three-meter hole that was now steadily leaking water into their cabin. Activating his Aura Sight, he could see his friends as they tried to get in cover from the vicious storm. Brock, Bianca, and Latios were in between the couch and the table, Latios covering them like a one-man barrier between them and the elements, a shimmering Protect covering them in a light green dome. _I'll have to thank him for that later… _Ash thought solemnly. He didn't want to think about what would have happened if they'd been unprotected. Looking over, he could see Latias and Misty huddled in the corner as the wind whipped around them. He watched, frowning as Latias's energy suddenly dimmed, and she collapsed onto Misty, shimmering out of her human form as she lost consciousness.

Looking back up, Ash felt a chill go down his spine as the boat let off an ominous groan. Suddenly, it shook as though hit by a bomb, and a low rumbling filled the cabin. Ash slowly got to his feet as the boat shook again, and the horrible sound of rending metal filled the air. "Oh… that is _not _good." he said shakily. "Come on everyone, we have to get out of here!" he yelled, before going over to Latias and lifting her onto his back. She shifted slightly and locked her arms around his neck, before going limp again. Ash went over to Misty and helped her up, leading her to Brock and the others, where Bianca immediately wrapped her arm under her shoulder to keep her on her feet. _"Alright, are we all good to go?" _Ash looked over as Latios searched the room. "Yeah, but what about our stuff?" he questioned. _"I can't do much of anything about the stuff all over, but most of our things are in our bags, so I can carry those with me." _the blue Eon explained, before his eyes shone blue as their things were hung onto his wings. _"I seriously feel like a Tauros right now…" _the dragon grumbled lightly.

Ash smiled slightly, before he frowned slightly. "Alright then, we need to go, now." he said seriously, walking over to the door and forcing it open as the ship let off another groan. "Something tells me there won't be a boat here in the next hour or so…" he said grimly, holding the door for the others. Brock was last, the older man having taken up the rear, but as the ship shuddered violently, he lost his grip on the steel cabin door, catching Brock in the arm as he gestured to Ash that he was through; stumbling as the ship shook. The heavy metal struck the man's arm with force, and Ash winced as he heard a distinct cracking noise as Brock's arm was broken. The others stopped, staring shocked with wide eyes as their oldest member was injured.

(Brock's POV)

_Shit… _I thought as the steel door swung into my right arm without warning, snapping the bone. I cried out in pain, falling to a knee. Gritting my teeth, I grabbed the metal with my other hand, pulling it open so I could remove my arm. It fell uselessly to my side, and I cringed as the break was hit again. "Agh… the bone's split in two, I can feel it. We need to move, I can get this fixed up once we're off this damned boat!" I said forcefully, getting up and pushing the others forward with my free hand. I saw Ash frozen to my right, guilt plain on his face. "Come on, you can feel guilty later, we need to get off this damned boat!" I shouted, jarring him out of his shock. He nodded. "R-right… Let's get moving." the teen said shakily, before composing himself.

We trekked through the residential floors of the ship, stopping every few minutes to make sure everyone was alright. The New Moon shuddered again as we walked, and we were forced to stop as the lights suddenly shut off. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding when the auxiliary power kicked on ten seconds later, the ship's security lighting painting our surroundings a dull yellow. Oddly, we encountered nobody else on the deck, which was a chilling thought; what had happened to them? Did they get on the lifeboats and leave us behind, or did they suffer a worse fate?

I was shaken from my thoughts when I heard the sound of rushing water below. "Oh man…" I groaned. "We need to get moving, or we'll be swallowed just like the lower decks!" With those words, I pushed ahead of the others, looking for an exit. Seeing none, I kept going, vaguely hearing the others shuffling behind me. A minute later, we came out into a commons and I saw something promising. "Come on, there's stairs right up ahead, just on the other side of the commons! Let's go!" I yelled behind me, picking up the pace as the others tried to move faster. Making my way across, I stopped suddenly as I looked through one of the glass parts of the door.

Water was pushing up the stairs from the floor below, and it was already halfway up to us. "Come ON!" I shouted, fear creeping into my voice. I turned to see the others coming across, weaving through the chairs and a few assorted tables to get to me. "The ship's taking on water faster than I thought, it's already moving up the stairs now, we have to-" I was cut off when the boat shook again, making us all stumble. My bad arm very nearly hit by one of the bags on Latios's wings as they swung about, I backed up against the door to steady myself. We waited anxiously as the seconds ticked by, before the tremor subsided. I looked back to see the water nearly at our level. "Okay, we need to get up to the deck now, the water will take a few minutes to fill this floor before it'll go up to the next. From what I could see out of the side windows in our room before we had to leave, it's sinking at a fairly steady pace, which means that we won't have to worry about water coming up from over the deck and trapping us." I said as calmly as I could. "Let's get moving, hopefully there will still be people with lifeboats by the time we get up there."

Pushing open the door, I held it open as best I could without hitting my other arm by accident as the others filed through, only stopping for Latios to psychically open the other door to accommodate for his wingspan. While I was a bit irked that he couldn't just hold the doors himself, I could tell the dragon was exhausted. He was hovering shakily above the ground, and his face had a thin sheen of sweat on it, glistening slightly in the New Moon's security lights. After Ash made his way through the door, twisting slightly to compensate for Latias's wingspan, I let the door swing back shut with a 'thud', before turning and following the others as they went up the stairs, cringing slightly when I felt water under my shoes. I climbed the stairs as quickly as I could, stumbling slightly when the ship gave a small shudder.

We went up another two flights of stairs before we saw the door that opened to the upper deck. Latios nudged it with his head, pushing it open before giving it to Ash to hold. As we stepped out into the air, I immediately knew something was wrong. There was an oppressive presence in the air, and it felt as though I were being suffocated. Judging by a look at the others, I knew they felt the same, except Ash. Ash's eyes were wide, and his pupils had shrunk immediately. Something was very wrong.

"**GROOAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" **

Everyone stumbled as a bestial roar filled the air. Several meters away, a small group of people lay frozen in fear. I made to rush over to them, but I stopped when I saw a shape dart around in the clouds, before a bright flash lit up the sky, and what appeared to be a Hyper Beam of energy struck the group. I let out a cry of dismay as the Beam faded, leaving several people with severe burns. They looked alive, but I knew they wouldn't stay that way. The burns were too great, and even now, I saw one of them go limp. A massive shape was darting through the black clouds, and it was mere seconds before it noticed us. Its eyes gleamed a harsh crimson and it suddenly let loose an earth-shaking bellow.

"**GROOAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"**

I was frozen in fear of the massive shape, before Latios turned. _"Come on, we need to get moving now, or we'll end up just like them!" _the dragon telepathed, clearly shocked by events. Shaking myself out of my stupor, I nodded, before looking around for Bianca and Misty. I saw them towards the rear of our group, frozen by the doors. I ran over as best I could without irritating my arm, and took Misty, slinging her over my good arm like a ragdoll. She'd lost consciousness "I'll take her." I said at Bianca's shocked look. "We need to get moving as fast as we can right now, and I won't be too encumbered with her. No offense, but I'm substantially stronger than you." I said, trying not to sound like a complete asshole. She gave me a look, before nodding.

We all rushed across to where the lifeboats were, only to see the last one fall to the ocean, its chain snapped. "Oh… that is _not _good…" I said, my eyes wide. "Uh, we DO have some load-capable Water types with us, right? It's too risky to fly right now, with that… thing… in the skies, and we need to get off now!" I said, my voice rising as I began to panic. Ash looked off into the distance, before snapping the fingers of his free hand. "I don't have anyone with me, but do you remember Shamouti?" he asked, unsure.

I blinked. "That… That just might work. Do it!" I said forcefully. He complied, going over to Latios and hurriedly searching through his bag. "Found it!" he said, excited, pulling out a six-holed forest green ocarina. Fumbling with it for a seconds, he got to a knee and took his left hand from where it was holding Latias to his back. She slid down slightly, frowning in her sleep before shifting and pulling herself back up. He gasped for a second as she pulled herself up by his neck, cutting off his air, before she let go, seemingly preferring his shoulders instead. I chuckled despite myself at his predicament, before he got his arms free and brought the small instrument up to his lips, playing the first few notes of a moving melody. I held my breath as we waited.

It seemed to take hours before the water several dozen meters away from us churned, and the Guardian of the Sea, Lugia crashed out of the water with a mighty roar. Not exactly subtle. "Um, Ash?" I called uncertainly. "That wasn't exactly subtle. We might want to hurry." I said, looking back to see a dark form twisting through the churning skies, and a flash of red preceded another great bellow.

"**GROOAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"**

I cringed as an oppressive power filled the air, before Lugia let off a sudden cry of challenge, the being's features twisted in rage. Ash paled. "No!" he yelled, desperate to get the large Pokémon's attention. Confused, the Guardian of the Sea looked curiously at him. "We need to go, now! This ship is sinking and if we don't go now, my friends and I will be stuck with it!" he cried, desperate for the Pokémon to understand.

Understanding seemed to flit through Lugia's eyes, and it let loose another cry, before I suddenly lost control of my limbs as I was lifted off the deck, Misty still over my shoulder. I turned my head and saw the others being lifted as well, even Latios, much to the Eon's chagrin. We flew through the air, and I cringed as a massive beam of energy, fired to kill, swept through the ship after us, cleaving the New Moon in two. I felt it singe my clothes as it swept past, and I knew if Lugia had been even a second slower, we'd have been dead. I landed softly on the Guardian of the Sea's massive back as he pulled us closer. I put Misty down as the others were set down, and with a cringe, I felt my broken arm. the adrenaline of the situation before had blocked the pain of it, but it came back in force now that we were safe. "I'm going to have to get this looked at…" I muttered as I looked my arm over, cringing as I saw where the bone had broken and my right arm was twisted at an unnatural angle.

I looked back up to see Latios lose control of his levitation, the Eon crying out and hitting one of Lugia's back spines and falling to the great Pokémon's back, our bags thankfully staying looped around his wings. He was unconscious in seconds. Lugia looked back at us before suddenly twisting his neck and using Protect to defend against a large Hyper Beam aimed at us. With one final roar, this time of anger, the Guardian of the Sea fired a Dragon Rage at the shadowy being before collecting the air around us and forming a psychic bubble as we dived back under the water. I yelled in shock before realizing that Lugia had made an air bubble around us as we shot further under the surface of the ocean.

I sat there for what felt like hours as we shot through the water, moving away from the ill-fated voyage, not sure where we were going. Bianca was in shock, hugging the unconscious Latios close to her as she tried to calm down. I barely noticed that I myself was panicked until I looked down to see my hands shaking violently. _What… What just happened? I've had some crazy adventures with Ash, but this… This takes the cake! _I thought, trying to wrap my head around what had just happened. Two things were for sure though: We'd been targeted specifically, it was evident the instant that… thing… saw us, and Lugia seemed to know what it was, judging by his angry reaction to it. However, that just begged the question: Who, or what, had attacked us?

**ThatGallade: Aaaaaaaand, that's a wrap! Special thinks to Pigeoncracker for helping me make the stuff before the POV switch seem less mediocre, there's likely still some issues we didn't address, but he made it a LOT better. Alright, as you can tell, this chapter was **_**dark. **_**Well, by my usual standards anyway. I did say it was going to happen, I just hope it was at least somewhat realistic, but this was kind of a rush job; pretty much everything after the roars was written in like an hour. Character-wise, we get a glimpse into how Brock's taking all this, and we see that Bianca's still not used to this whole thing; she likely won't be for some time. I don't intend for her to just adapt and get used to this mess in like five chapters, not at all. It will take time for her to adapt to what is happening, as the last big thing that happened to her was **_**years **_**ago in this timeline.**

**Alright, I need to end this, so as usual, thanks for reading, thanks for waiting, and remember to review! ThatGallade, out!**


	7. Chapter 7

**ThatGallade: It's been a long time. I'm sorry for the wait, things have piled up (that and I'm lazy as hell), and Fallout 4 has kept me busy. So, I just wanted to apologize, for one. It's been over a year and a half now and I've gotten exactly 18,575 words of story written, less if you remove ANs. Frankly, that's pretty pathetic. I know I have issues outside of FF to deal with, but it's no excuse, so I'm sorry. Honestly, I've been a bit unsure where to go with this chapter for a while now. I got out of the Dark and Edgy Chapter, so where to go now? I think that was the major issue that stopped updates. However, I've moved past that, so I'm back! Yay!**

Last Chapter:

_I sat there for what felt like hours as we shot through the water, moving away from the ill-fated voyage, not sure where we were going. Bianca was in shock, hugging the unconscious Latios close to her as she tried to calm down. I barely noticed that I myself was panicked until I looked down to see my hands shaking violently. What… What just happened? I've had some crazy adventures with Ash, but this… This takes the cake! I thought, trying to wrap my head around what had just happened. Two things were for sure though: We'd been targeted specifically, it was evident the instant that… thing… saw us, and Lugia seemed to know what it was, judging by his angry reaction to it. However, that just begged the question: Who, or what, had attacked us?_

"So, what now?"-normal speech

_"I'm heading out."- telepathy_

_I love Pokémon.-thoughts and/or emphasis_

_**Chapter 7: Fleeing the Night**_

(Ash's POV)

I sighed heavily as my legs gave out, the exhaustion of today's events finally getting to me. What in the world had happened? One moment I'm on the ship, watching the others play cards, the next, the boat's been split in half and we're barely alive. Bile rose in my throat as I thought about those that didn't make it, and guilt threatened to seep over me before I quashed it down ruthlessly. _Now isn't the time to think such thoughts! You need to focus on those around you, Ash! _

"Are we all okay?" I asked hesitantly, looking around. I saw Brock and Misty leaning back on one of Lugia's spines, eyes wide. Bianca was clinging desperately to Latios, but she seemed to be calming slightly, the dragon's presence, even unconscious, helping to alleviate her fear. Latias was still on my back, and I looked around to see her shifting slightly. I smiled just barely, before gently placing her down onto Lugia's back. She frowned, grabbing out for something to latch onto, and I sighed, before picking her up on my back again. I was about to ask Brock if he and Misty were okay when he sighed loudly.

"Man, what the hell just happened?" he asked wearily. "I mean, sure, we get into big fights sometimes, Ash and I fought Arceus himself once, but this? This is on a whole new level. We almost _died _today." he said shakily.

It was then that I realized. None of them were truly _used _to this kind of thing. Sure, Brock and Misty had been around for the DMA incident, as well as Bianca, but none of them really _knew _how combat could be. It was brutal and merciless, a crucible at best, a trauma-inducing event at worst. When I'd gone to Cameran to train in my Aura, I'd done more than just trained in Aura, I'd trained in the art of war. When I went back to the Tree of Beginning, I learned how to fight and win, even when my Pokémon weren't available. In my time at the Tree, I'd been taught by two of the greatest soldiers of their time, Sir Aaron and Lucario. Though they were not 'alive' per se, the act of giving their lives for the Tree did not kill them. Rather, they were absorbed into the Tree itself, unable to leave it or even manifest inside it. They became part of the Tree, existing inside the crystal conduits used by it to communicate with and regulate itself.

While I learned from them, I learned to master both myself and my abilities. I learned to fight even when my Pokemon couldn't, and to win using my abilities alone. My skill in Aura improved exponentially, from struggling to maintain a single Aura Sphere to successfully maintaining a full set of combat armor as well as weaponry, and I could never be truly disarmed. I'd seen the trials of combat, and they weren't for everyone. Misty, Brock, and Bianca? They'd never had to do that before, and I'd hoped that they wouldn't have to.

I sighed. "Brock… that, was something terrible." I said, my voice somber. "All of those attacks, those were meant to kill and maim, not just incapacitate. That's the harsh reality of combat. You can't give your foes the chance to retreat and attack you again. You do what you have to do in order to survive. Even if that means making some very tough decisions." I continued.

Brock's eyes widened in understanding. "That's why you never told us what you did in Cameron, isn't it?" he said in realization. "I'd wondered why you always looked so much more serious after your time there, now it all makes more sense. For what it's worth, Ash, I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you." he said seriously. "We're getting off track though. What _was _that thing?"

I was about to answer that I didn't know myself when Lugia turned its massive head towards us, blinking calmly. _"That, Brock Slate of Pewter City, was the being known as Yveltal, the personification of death itself." _Lugia telepathed, his mental voice soothing and knowledgeable. _"I cannot say I know why it attacked us, nor do I know what it is doing so far from its home, but I can say with certainty it was here for you, Ash Ketchum." _he telepathed, sounding very tired. I realized then that we had been moving for over three hours now, and were very far away from home. I opened my mouth to ask Lugia if it would be possible to go to Sinnoh when the great Legend's head shot upwards, scanning for danger, before we surfaced instantly. I froze, mouth open as a chilling feeling of dread swept over me. I looked at the others, and Brock was grimacing while Latios muttered softly in his sleep, no doubt disturbed by the terrifying aura being exuded from… something.

"_It is here!" _Lugia roared into our minds. _"Yveltal is here! It is following you, Ash Ketchum!"_

I heard Brock swear under his breath as we looked up to see a massive red form hovering over us, an utterly foul aura oozing off of it. My eyes widened as it seemed to look right at me, bright red eyes conveying so much emotion. Rage, pain, hate, and fear, all rolled into one highly volatile package. Lugia roared in anger, before firing an Aeroblast at Yveltal, who dodged lazily. I called upon my Aura, before feeling the comforting weight of my combat armor surround me as a great spear formed out of nothingness. I hefted it slightly in one hand before taking aim at Yveltal. The great beast looked at me, rage filling its eyes as it gazed upon the mere mortal that wished to attack it. I smirked despite myself as I charged Aura into my arm, before I launched my weapon. It shot forwards like a bullet, speeding off just under the speed of sound before impacting Yveltal's left wing.

"**GROOOOOAAAHHHH!"**

It gave a roar of unadulterated rage as my spear pierced the wing, lodging itself deep inside. Enraged, Yveltal closed its wings before seemingly pulling a bright purple sphere into existence as it forced them apart. _"That's Oblivion Wing! One hit and we'll be killed in seconds!" _Lugia cried into my head as it immediately shot left, using its mental power to keep us from falling. At that same moment, a massive beam of crimson energy at least half a meter thick filled the area where Latios had been before. The energy flowing off of it gave me a terrible feeling, and I grimaced as it seemed to leech the very energy out of me. _Such an evil force… Why would any Pokémon wish to use it? _I wondered, charging another spear. Taking aim, I was shocked to see Yveltal's eyes flash as its head turned towards me immediately. Unable to stop, I launched my weapon, watching as it closed the gap between us nearly instantly before barely missing the other Legendary's head.

My eyes widened as Yveltal nearly took what would surely be a grievous wound, only to charge another Oblivion Wing, firing it in seconds. Lugia veered to the side, narrowly dodging the blast of foul energy. Despite the large spear embedding itself in its face, the Legendary only seemed even angrier than before. "That reaction speed… how is that even possible?" I asked in fearful awe.

"_We legendaries are different from most other Pokémon. We are the pinnacle of the Pokémon species, and our reaction time is something we developed to deal with poachers, among other things. That being said… that was far too quick. It was as though Yveltal knew _exactly _what you were doing before you did it, without even seeing you_. _It has clearly done something to itself, though I cannot identify it... There is something else, as well. I cannot control the storms in this area. Something about Yveltal is nullifying my power…" _Lugia mused. _"We cannot defeat it now, we must flee. Yveltal will break off the attack if we get far enough away. Even if it's hunting you, Ash Ketchum, it still has its own duties to fulfill." _the Beast of the Sea telepathed, before banking left as we disappeared below the surface once again. Large water Pokémon shot by as we rode the currents, Yveltal still in pursuit, firing bolts of energy at random. "We need to break away from this fight as soon as possible, or there's going to be casualties from the local species." I said, eyes wide as I saw another blast strike barely a meter away from us. "Why don't we go deeper? Yveltal's attacks will merely dissipate before they reach us if we're far enough down. The ocean floor should be at least a kilometer down from here."

"_You have a good tactical mind, Ash Ketchum." _Lugia telepathed. _"I shall begin descending immediately."_

As we dived, I could see massive schools of Remoraid and Finneon swimming frantically as they attempted to avoid the conflict. There was nothing we could do to help them, so we could only watched as they frantically dodged Yveltal's brutal strikes. One group in particular wasn't fast enough, and I cringed as I saw a dozen Remoraid simply cease to exist. "Such a brutal being… what happened to make it this way?" I muttered under my breath. Looking back to the others, I saw Brock and Bianca watching the chaos around them, horror in their eyes. Thankfully, Misty and the twins were still asleep, but I could feel Latias shifting uncomfortably on my back. _This must be terrible for her, unconscious or not. I'd forgotten how much of an empath she was… I hate being so powerless… _I thought somberly.

After several heart-pounding minutes, we finally reached the ocean floor. Lugia, no longer occupied with dodging an overhead assault, was able to focus its efforts on protecting us from the coldness and pressure of the ocean depths. I sighed with the others as we felt the warmth return to us from where it had steadily been sapped away by the frigid waters around us. As we lazily moved through the water, I couldn't help but dwell on what had just happened. _I was so… helpless. My attacks did next to nothing, only making it angrier. Is this the power of Legendary Pokémon? It was like trying to fight the god of death itself…_

I was shaken out of my musings as Latios stirred. The dragon seemed to frown slightly, before his eyes shot open. _"How-wha-where are we?" _he telepathed wildly, his panic flowing through the connections. _"We-we were attacked, a massive shape in the clouds, such a foreboding feeling, and death, so much death, what is going on?" _he asked, terror filling his mental voice.

"_Latios. Calm yourself." _And with those three words, it was as though the conflicts of the world seemed to wash away. All of our problems seemed to just melt off my back, as I was filled with a sensation of peace. And then it was gone, disappearing as quickly as it had come, and everything came rushing back once more. But this time, it was muted, manageable. _I hadn't even noticed… I was about to crack under all the pressure. Everything that's happened today, it's just too much. _I thought, suddenly feeling very tired. Looking back to Latios, I could see the Eon was absolutely bursting with questions. In a calmer, less morbid situation, it almost would have been funny, but now it was just another reminder of just how much the odds had been stacked against us.

Finally, the Eon could contain his worry no longer. _"Lugia! What happened? All I remember is us trying to escape, and an absolutely _horrible _feeling emanating through me before everything went black… Where are we?" _he telepathed desperately. I decided to calm him down now before his panic woke up Latias or Misty. "It's okay Latios, we managed to escape the New Moon, we're all alive. Now that I think about it though… Brock, are you really okay? That arm looks really bad." I spoke up, remembering Brock's injury.

"I'll live, Ash. It hurts like it's been hit by a Machoke, but I'll live. Could really use a couple painkillers out of Latios's bags thou-agh!" he said, wincing as his mangled arm was jostled again. The dragon in question frowned, worry in his eyes as he slid the bags off of his wings. Walking over, I saw that we hadn't lost any of our possessions, though everything was rather damp. I rifled through the medical bag, finally stopping on the medicine we needed.

"We haven't lost any medicine, so here's your painkiller, Brock. Still, we need to get that arm fixed up, or it's not going to heal properly… We could do it now, but I'm afraid that it'll get botched, with emotions running high and our limited supplies." I mused. "Maybe it'd be best to wait until we got to a town. Lugia, where's the closest port?"

"_The nearest port city appears to be Slateport. I shall change course for it immediately." _The Beast of the Sea telepathed calmly. _"It is far enough away that it should be mostly unaffected by tonight's catastrophe. We can only hope that there are other survivors there as well. We should arrive in nine hours."_

I frowned. "Slateport? That wouldn't really be my first choice, we were en route to Sinnoh…" I said, sighing tiredly. "It's our best bet though. We all need medical attention, and I don't want to burden you more than necessary. And honestly, I'm not even sure I _want _to go to Sinnoh anymore. Would it be possible to return to Kanto instead? We need time to recuperate, and the best place for that would be at Oak's lab."

"_That is possible, yes. For me to get to Pallet Town directly, we would have to spend some time in the air, but if we do not alert our pursuer to our location beforehand, we should be able to get there undetected in roughly fifteen hours. Since we're going to be together for a short while, I recommend you get comfortable. Feel free to put down sleeping bags on my back, I will ensure that you do not roll off overnight." _Lugia telepathed calmly.

It was at this point that Bianca spoke up. "So wait, we're just going to Pallet? Just like that? What about all those people, what if they need help too?" she asked angrily. I knew where she was coming from, of course. _Heh… I was just like that before I went to Cameron. I just wish I didn't have to burst her bubble... _"I'm sorry, but there's not much else we can do at this point." I explained. "If we go back, there's no guarantee that there's anyone left, let alone in good enough condition that we can help them. Plus, Yveltal is likely to be roamin-" _"Did you say Yveltal?" _Latios butted in, eyes widening. _"Ash is right. I'm sorry Bianca, but if we're going up against _Yveltal… _going back now would only lead to certain death." _he said solemnly. She was about to flare up again, but stopped at the look on the dragon's face. _"Yveltal… something like that cannot be stopped by four humans and three legendaries, only two of which are combat-capable. No, we need to keep going. If there's any survivors on our way to Slateport, we can help them, but it's far too dangerous to go back to the ship now." _he telepathed sadly. Her eyes widened in realization, and she hugged the dragon tightly.

We sat there for a short while, trying to keep our minds off of the attack by diverting our attention to other things. Brock and Latios were playing a card game with what we still had, and Bianca was watching them, chiming in to assist her blue friend, much to Brock's chagrin. Misty had woken up, and was quietly reading a book, unwilling to speak to anyone. I tried to focus on something, anything that wasn't related to Yveltal, but my mind just kept coming back to the terrifying entity. _The personification of death itself… What did I do to anger a being that powerful? Unless… was it when I brought Latios back out of the Soul Dew? I mean, he wasn't technically dead, so… Damn it all, this is just so confusing!_

A sudden thought came to me. "Lugia, what did you mean when you said you couldn't control the storms earlier? Were you merely unable to change the weather patterns?" I asked, though something told me I wouldn't like the answer.

"_Were it only so simple, Ash Ketchum. I'm afraid not. Something has changed within Yveltal, and that storm was one of the results of it. That tempest was not of my making, but of Yveltal's own power. When I attempted to take control of the storm, it reacted violently. Whatever has changed within Yveltal that has given it such power, it is capable of making a hurricane that I, the Beast of the Sea, the Stormbringer, cannot control." _Lugia telepathed solemnly. I tried to think of something to say, but nothing came, so I just sat down silently.

Finally, two hours later, Latias began to stir. "Come on Latias, it's time to get up. You've been out for three hours, and I need my arms back." While I could simply allow her to hold on herself when Yveltal attacked us, her grip had gotten very tight not long after we had escaped, and I was forced to hold her up myself to keep from being strangled.

Thankfully, she still seemed able to exert her psychic abilities, and I was able to release her as she floated herself, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. _"What… what happened? I remember everything going black, and this terrible feeling coming over me, but I don't remember what _happened._" _she said mentally, confusion flowing across the link. _"We were… attacked? A large blast of energy, a bright white light, and a horrible screeching noise…"_

I frowned, taking her claws and walking away from the others. "We were attacked by a Legendary Pokémon. Lugia calls it Yveltal. It… I had no idea a Pokémon could have an aura so… _evil._" I shuddered. "I've never felt something like that. The aura alone made me feel like I was going to die." I said softly.

"_That… makes sense, but I can't help but wonder _why _this happened." _the dragoness telepathed, uncharacteristically serious. _"I've met almost all of the other Legendaries before, at Arceus's monthly council sessions, but, I've never met anyone named Yveltal… For it to be a Legendary, one not on the council… It must have done something terrible. Even Giratina comes to the meetings, and she was banished centuries ago!"_

"Well, whatever it was that Yveltal did, it certainly did _not _seem happy to see us. It was hunting me in particular, actually." I gave a tired, hollow laugh. "What did _I _do to anger something that powerful? I've done a lot of things, hell, me and Brock here have fought Arceus itself, but I've never been singled out like this. None of us have… I've spent years training in the art of Aura and battle, even going up against one of the most skill Aura Masters in history on an even footing, but nothing could have prepared me for this. It was sheer luck we managed to get out alive!" I said, before shaking my head. "It doesn't matter. Let's go back to the others, we need some rest."

**ThatGallade: And, that's a wrap! Another 3,000 word chapter, to try to make up for my absence. Yveltal has appeared! I had to think for a couple days to really find a Pokemon that clicked with the role I'd made in Darkness Rising, and I'd been going back and forth between this and a Shadow Rayquaza. Here, we get to see just how outmatched our protagonists are. I was worried that Ash was seeming a bit Gary-Stu in the first couple chapters, what with the Aura abilities, so I'm trying to provide a better idea of how powerful the antagonists are. He's going to have to spend a lot of time focusing on learning to use his Latios form (I haven't forgotten that!) if he wants to defeat Yveltal. Ash and co. have their work cut out for them, that's for sure.**


	8. Chapter 8

Last Chapter:

_ "Well, whatever it was that Yveltal did, it certainly did not seem happy to see us. It was hunting me in particular, actually." I gave a tired, hollow laugh. "What did I do to anger something that powerful? I've done a lot of things, hell, me and Brock here have fought Arceus itself, but I've never been singled out like this. None of us have… I've spent years training in the art of Aura and battle, even going up against one of the most skill Aura Masters in history on an even footing, but nothing could have prepared me for this. It was sheer luck we managed to get out alive!" I said, before shaking my head. "It doesn't matter. Let's go back to the others, we need some rest."_

"So, what now?"-normal speech (When a Pokémon talks to another Pokémon, this will be used as it is presumed they are speaking in their own language)

_"I'm heading out."- telepathy_

_I love Pokémon.-thoughts and/or emphasis_

**_Chapter 8: The Return_**

(Latios POV)

_We've been moving for hours now… _I thought tiredly, stretching outwards, cringing at the popping noise coming from my neck. Sitting in one position for hours will do terrible things to your spine, even as a dragon. _Let's see… Lugia said we'd reach Pallet after, what, fifteen hours? Judging by what Brock's watch is saying, we've been on the run for about... eight hours. Seven more to go, joy. _I thought irritably, turning to look at the other members of our little crew. Ash was talking idly with Brock and Misty, while my sister was chatting quietly with Bianca. _Bianca… What is this feeling that runs through me whenever I look at her? I've been gone from the world a long time, but I still know my own emotions!_

Sighing, I got up and floated over to the larger group. _"So, at the risk of sounding redundant, what do we do now?" _I telepathed curiously. _"While we know _where _we need to go, we still don't know what we'll do once we're there. Do we talk to Professor Oak about finding shelter while we plan our next moves? I mean, I _have _to tell Arceus about this. If Yveltal is going on a rampage, they must be informed."_

Ash sighed. "Unfortunately, we can't do much other than rest up. We don't know enough about what Yveltal's going to do, and drawing attention to ourselves will only get us in more trouble. I agree though, someone has to be notified." he said, frowning. "There's not much else that we can do at the moment, we barely got out of that mess in one piece. I'm surprised none of us were fatally wounded."

Misty smiled despite herself. "Well, it'll be nice to go back to Pallet though, right?" she asked, sounding excited at the prospect. "I'm sure your mom has been missing you, hasn't she?" she asked curiously.

Ash paled. "Oh man, she knows!" he said, eyes widening. "I told her what boat we were going to be on, she'll know something happened when word gets out! There were plenty of other people on it, I doubt that nobody managed to get word out, and I _highly _doubt that a distress call wasn't sent out. Mom's definitely going to flip!" he groaned.

If there was anything I knew about Mrs. Ketchum (which was very little; he'd only been not-dead for a few days, after all), it was that she was the epitome of a loving mother. _Always encouraging Ash to go forward, always working to make him happy, and supporting him in whatever he did._ I thought idly. Ash had described her as one of the nicest people he knew. _I believe he also said she was, what was it, a "mama Ursaring"? She sounds dangerous. _I shivered. _Perhaps it'd be best if I _didn't _tell her I met her son by attacking him…_

Turning my attention back to Ash, I saw him sitting in a fetal position on the floor, eyes wide as he murmured under his breath. _"Um, it'll be fine? She's your mom, right? She'll let you explain…?" _my mental voice trailed off uncertainly.

"This is Delia Ketchum we're talking about here." Misty deadpanned. "She's more likely to scold him, be concerned for him, and break his ribs in a hug. Not necessarily in that order."

_Oh._

_"Well, I suppose there's only one way to find out, right?" _I telepathed uncertainly. _This "reunion" is going to be interesting, that's for certain. I suppose I can't say anything; technically I'm supposed to be God's nephew or something, and we just got brutally attacked by my second cousin, or somewhere along those lines. What have I gotten myself into…? _I sighed, turning and floating off to look for Brock.

After a few seconds, I saw him, sitting against one of Lugia's spines, closer to the Pokémon's neck. He grimaced as his arm was jostled by one of the Pokémon's movements. The painkillers hadn't been as effective as we'd thought, and he'd been unable to get any sleep for over thirty hours now. It was starting to take a toll on the man, he had dark circles under his eyes and his movements were sluggish and uncoordinated. _I wish there was something I could do to help him, but I've no idea what. What's the point of being a being with godlike levels of untapped power if you can't _do _anything with it? _I grumbled, floating over to him. _"How're you holding up here?" _I asked uncertainly. _"Do you need me to get anything for you? I can get more medicine, or maybe something to take your mind off of it."_

Brock sighed. "No…" he said quietly. "It'll be okay. It's only a few more hours, right? I can take this for a bit longer. For Ash's sake, if nothing else. I wasn't there to help him while he went to Cameran, I can at least be here to help him now." he said, determination filling his voice. My respect for the man shot up a few notches at that.

_"You really care for him, don't you? Not many would endure something such as this for the sake of someone else." _I telepathed, unable to keep a slight bit of awe from my voice. _"I could imagine doing something like this for Latias, but even then I don't actually know if I could _do _it. Many people like to think they'd be able to do nearly anything for something important to them." _I mused. _"However, not many can actually muster up the strength to do so… and I am no exception. You have my respect, Brock Slate." _

He looked surprised at my words. "_Normally, I would never be willing to admit that I couldn't do something to protect my sister. But after the DMA Incident, well, it's rather humbling. All I can do now is thank Ash for saving me from my prison. And you as well, for being there by his side during his journeys." _I admitted.

"I don't know about that… I mean, there was that whole stint he had in Unova, I wasn't there for that." he pointed out. "But… I suppose Ash is like a brother to me now. We've been traveling together for years, and he's probably my closest friend." he chuckled lightly. "Then again, I suppose that for him, that slot goes to Pikachu."

_"Speaking of which, where is he? I didn't see him when we were escaping the boat… Is he alright?" _I asked. _I never even thought about him when we ran from Yveltal. Emotions were running high at that point, I suppose. I hope Ash was able to pick him up._

"Oh, he's fine." Brock pointed at the bags situated around one of Lugia's frontal spines. "You probably missed him when we were leaving because he was in Ash's bag when the storm hit. I can't say I'm surprised he didn't wake up from all the chaos, though; that mouse sleeps like a rock. He's somewhat like Ash, in that regard." he explained, shaking his head. "I'm sure you noticed before we left Altomare, how Ash would sleep in until ten in the morning, and wouldn't get up a minute earlier?"

I did notice that, actually. Whenever Ash fell asleep, he simply wouldn't get up until his body decided to. He must've spent at least twelve hours a day sleeping. I nodded.

"Yeah, Pikachu's just like that. Could sleep through a tornado, and I don't mean the move, either." he said lightly. "He'll probably be up here in a couple hours. I told Ash earlier, so he's waiting for him to wake up in order to explain what mess we've gotten ourselves into this time." he sighed, looking out into the ocean. We'd descended further, closer to the seafloor, and there weren't many Pokémon around this deep, but I could barely make out the forms of Shellder and occasional Clamperl as we raced by.

I sighed. _"We've been going for a while now. Let's try and get some rest. Should I get you some more pain medicine? It might help." _I telepathed tiredly. _"You've been up for over a day without rest and I'm mentally exhausted. We need to get some sleep."_

He sighed. "You're right. I can't do anything for anyone in this condition. More pain medicine would be risky, but… I can't get any rest like this. Bring me the bottle and I'll see how much more I can take without serious risk." He said tiredly.

Nodding, I floated over to where the bags were. Looking closely, I could see a small round form that could only be Pikachu, curled up in Ash's bag. Turning back to our medical bag, sifting through the meager supplies we'd managed to save from Yveltal's attack. _It's a good thing Lugia's going to drop us off at Pallet, if something bad happened I don't know if we'd be able to help anyone who's injured. _I thought tiredly. Bringing back the bottle of pain medicine to Brock, I floated off to go to sleep.

(LINE BREAK)-

I awoke to a prodding of my wings. I groaned sleepily as I opened my eyes, levitating off of Lugia's back. Looking around, I saw Brock, out like a light, as well as Ash and Bianca talking about something or other as we flew through the air, no sign of the bubble keeping air in as we moved about the skies.

_Wait, skies? _

"Come on blue-bottom, we're almost to Pallet!" the redhead to my left grumbled. She didn't look like she'd slept very well, though I decided against commenting on her disheveled appearance. _My underside is white, though… _I thought hazily, floating over to Ash.

"Latios, you're up!" Bianca smiled. "I was wondering if you'd ever get up, you were out like a rock! Even worse than Ash and Pikachu…" she sighed. Looking over, I saw the two, Pikachu clinging sleepily to Ash's shoulder, who didn't look too awake himself. "Lugia says we're about fifteen minutes out from Pallet, so I figured now would be a good time to get everyone ready, because _all _of you decided that it was naptime!"

_"It is approximately 7:15 A.M. right now in Kanto. The sun should be coming up shortly, so we need to get to Pallet now before we are seen. I am not an easy Pokémon to miss, you know." _Lugia telepathed, his mental voice as calm as ever, as though he were discussing the weather. _I suppose that he is, in a way…_

"Of course, thank you Lugia, your assistance is greatly appreciated." Ash said thankfully. "Once we're in Pallet there shouldn't be any major issues; the people there know me well and they know what I've gotten up to in the past. The Professor may be a bit, enthusiastic, though … I doubt he'll be up this early in the morning. Tracey probably is, but you've met him before." he said lightly.

_"Of course, the one with the green hair and the sketchbook. He was quite skilled at his art, if I remember correctly." _Lugia remarked. _"Yes, I don't see any issues with coming into town immediately. We're getting close now."_

Exhaling tiredly, I floated over to where Latias was sitting by the bags, rummaging through them and presumably looking for something. "Sister!" I called. She looked up, smiling happily. "Can you wake up Brock for me? I have to carry the bags for when we get to Pallet. Be careful with his arm, please."

"Sure thing!" she chirped. "You know, you and Bianca really do work well together." she said, grinning evilly. "While you were all busy being asleep she sat by you and stroked your neck. I didn't think you let people groom you, Brother… Have you been hiding things from me again?" she pouted.

My face must've been as red as her feathers, because she burst into laughter. _S-she was grooming me? I _never _let anyone groom me, even when I'm asleep! And yet… somehow I'm not upset. With Bianca, anyway. Latias, on the other hand… _"Sister…" I growled, trying to look as angry as possible. It seemed to be working, because she let out a soft "eep" before floating off towards Brock just a _little _faster than normal. I laughed at her retreating back, before going over to pick up the bags. _That was mean, and she's going to get me back later. It was also totally worth it. _I thought, smirking.

A short while later, Pallet Town finally came into view. It was a quaint place, with a pleasant feel to it. There weren't many buildings, and small river ran directly through the village. It gave the town a very open atmosphere. Grassy fields made up most of the landscape, a mixture of crops filling the area closer to the town. On a nearby hill stood a larger building with a windmill spinning lazily in the soft breeze. There was a large fenced in area behind it, with what looked like a dozen distinct "biomes". _Maybe some kind of laboratory? Could belong to this Professor guy that Ash mentioned. _I wondered idly.

As we approached, the sun finally rose up through the trees, painting the sky and fields with a spectacular glow. The river was sparkling beautifully in the center of town, and for just a moment, it was as though the world had suddenly turned a brilliant orange hue. "Wow…" I gasped. There was no need for telepathy to translate this; everyone else was frozen in awe of the wondrous sight. One could hear Pidgey's calls off in the distance, and in that one moment, the world was at peace.

As we gazed off towards the east, Lugia began to circle the town before descending off towards the large area behind the hill. Unfortunately, there wasn't really a better place to land, especially without inadvertently calling attention to ourselves. As we descended towards the the building, a young man with unusual green hair and a red hairband stepped out, his eyes wide at Lugia's massive form blotting out the sun.

Finally, we touched down. Levitating off with as many bags as I could carry without hooking them on my wings (I do have _some _pride, after all) I floated off to the side to allow for Latias to get off, pulling Ash all the way as he tried to thank Lugia for his assistance, with little success. Bianca, meanwhile (I really need to talk to her later about what Latias told me…) was more interested in the scenery around us. It did make for an idyllic view, I supposed. _She definitely has her inner artist out to play right now. _I mused.

Brock and Misty carefully slid off of Lugia's wing with the rest of our bags. Brock went over to him, presumably to thank him for his help, while Misty exhaled tiredly and sat down next to the bags. I smirked. _"Not much of a morning riser, are we?" _I telepathed, mental voice brimming with smugness.

"Shut up, you. After that mess with the boat last night, how can I not be tired, huh?" she made a crude gesture in my direction. _One of the many disadvantages to not having hands, I suppose._

I grinned. _"Legendary Pokémon here, sleep is for the weak!" _I crowed in her mind. _Never mind the fact that I was passed out for half the trip… Technicalities, right? _Turning away from her muttered complaints I looked over to where Ash and Latias were talking to the green haired one, _probably this Tracey guy_, my sister having shifted into Bianca and making emphatic gestures, presumably trying to compliment Ash's story. Judging from what she was doing, they were at the part right after I'd been resurrected from the Soul Dew. Deciding to leave the explanations to them, I floated over to discuss matters with Lugia.

"Thank you again for saving us from Yveltal, Lugia. There was no way we'd have made it otherwise." Brock was saying, his broken arm limp at his side. _We need to get that looked at. _I thought grimly.

_"It was no trouble, Brock Slate. It was a stroke of luck that I'd been passing through the area, else who knows what could have happened." _Lugia said, mental voice solemn. _"I am glad to have been able to help the Chosen One once again. I fear as to what this may mean, however…" _he mused.

_"Brock." _I called. _"You should go and get your arm splinted. That building is a laboratory, right? There should be supplies there you can use. I need to speak with Lugia about the matter of Yveltal." _I said, mental voice becoming more serious as I brought my more serious persona as a Legendary to bear.

Nodding, the spiky-haired man walked off to get Bianca so they could deal with the break on his arm. I turned back to Lugia. "So what now, then?" I asked grimly. "If Yveltal is stirring again, then there's something much more dangerous going on here. Especially considering that it had been able to nullify your weather abilities. I presume you will inform Lord Arceus of these events?"

"Of course. There is a chance that they will call a council meeting together in order to deal with this threat, of course." he said calmly. "You and Latias may need to leave your friends behind for a short while. There is also the issue of the Soul Dew…" he trailed off, unsure.

"The Dew will be fine, I put up an energy barrier around it; anything that isn't an Eon won't be able to touch it without getting severely burned. Machines will simply cease functioning, as well." I said, not quite able to keep all of the pride out of my voice. Me and Latias had learned a lot in the years after the DMA incident, though my learning was somewhat restricted by my lack of being, well, alive. _Thankfully, that didn't affect my knowledge and learning _too _badly. The memories are a bit hazy, though… _

"That's good to hear, the last thing we need right now with this Yveltal problem is someone using your power for nefarious purposes." Lugia said, a small degree of relief in his voice. "It might actually be for the better that you two aren't in Altomare, as even with the Dew, it still requires… an external source of power." he spoke apologetically. I looked down, unable to keep the tremors down my spine hidden from his keen eyesight. _Even after being locked away in a gem for… five years? I can still remember that attack as clear as day…_ I thought, shuddering again.

I looked up when Lugia began to speak again. "Nevertheless, what has happened has happened. I am glad to see you are in good health, Latios." he said warmly. "Now, I think it is time for me to go. I have my own duties to look after, of course. Not _all _of us can shirk them simply by being away from their home city." He complained lightly.

I laughed. "It's not really shirking, though, now is it? I'm actively protecting the DMA by being far away from it, right?" He grumbled slightly before lifting off, banking left and flying over us again before disappearing beyond the tree line with a departing cry. I turned back to the sound of Bianca's voice, calling me over to talk with them. I smiled. _Even when things seem to be at their worst, there's always a ray of light, shining down like a beacon of hope in the void._ I thought contentedly. _Wow. When did I become this philosophical?_

**ThatGallade: I know. You all thought I was dead. I'm sorry, okay? That's all I can really say. I can try to explain how I've not been in much of a Pokémon mood lately (didn't even buy ORAS, though they came out last year), or how life's been busy with school and other things, or how I've had writer's block, but those are all just excuses. I was lazy and didn't feel like writing, that's all it is.**

**However, I'm not done with this yet! Updates may be sporadic and there might be a long delay between them, but this story isn't dead! Almost 3300 words this chapter, and finally we're done with the New Moon struggle! The next major block will be heading out of Pallet, because that's going to be weird to write. I've got a plan, though, and that probably won't be for a few chapters. Our heroes need downtime, after the last mess.**

**I've already got some of chapter 9 in the works, so hopefully I can get it out before things really ****_do_** **get busy in July; there will be a week when I simply won't be able to work, outside of maybe some pen-and-paper stuff. I'm saying this ahead of time because I want you all to know that there may be a delay (again), but I want to have chapter 9 out before that happens. Having a good idea and some work down ahead of time helps a bit with that, as well.**

**Due to a publishing issue, I had to use the copy-and-paste method in order to get this on the Doc Manager. If something didn't go through correctly, please review about it or PM me.**


End file.
